Love is a Choice

Love is a choice. It’s not something you have or you don’t have. It’s not something you can fall out of.  It’s something you choose to do. Love is something the Lord has commanded us to do.  In Deuteronomy 6:5 we are told 

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”  And in Matthew 22:39 

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus tells us that the 2 greatest commandments love thy God and love the neighbor.

If you follow the first 2 commandments you will obey them all because if you love thy God with all your heart, soul and mind you would not put any other God before him. You would not take his name in vain. You would not worship idols and you would obey the Sabbath and keep it holy and you would honor thy mother and father. If you would love thy neighbor you would not steal from them. You would not covet his wife or commit adultery with her. Bear false witness against or commit murder.

In Ephesians 5:25 the Lord commands husbands to love their wives.

“Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” 

 According to the U.S. census the divorce rate for 1st marriages is 50%. If wives would submit themselves unto their husbands as unto to lord as it states in Ephesians 5:22 and husbands would love their wives as the lord loves the church as is states in Ephesians 5:25 then the divorce rate would be drastically reduced.

We are told to love thy brother and I can think of no other way to state that than in 1st John 4:7-21.  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Our ultimate goal is to be as Christ like as possible. It is not well enough to just love thy neighbor, we are told in Matthew 5:43-44 

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.'

It is not easy to love somebody who has done wrong to you. Whether it is a father abuses a child, an abusive spouse, or a stranger on the street robbing you. In 1st John 4:18

 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.'

 I know sometimes it can be difficult to love thine enemy. Instead of forgiveness you want revenge. Even sinners can love their own child. . Perfected love comes when the person knows God and believes the love that God has for him/her.    One of the greatest acts of love is to sacrifice yourself for another. The next time you are having trouble forgiving someone and loving them just remember the sacrifice our Lord gave to you when you were yet still a sinner.

If I am having trouble loving anyone then I need to meditate on knowing God and understanding the love He has for me.

Father, reveal yourself to me. I want to know You. Teach me who You are and help me understand the love you have for me.

Numbers 16

Don’t get swallowed up!

As I was reading Numbers 16 last night, the Lord revealed a couple things to me. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but I will summarize it for you here. Basically Korah, Dathan and Abiram became discontent with the position God gave them, and with their leaders (Moses and Aaron). Long story short, they challenged God and literally got swallowed up in the earth. A lot can be said about honor in this chapter, but I want to focus on being content.

God had brought the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt into the wilderness where they would be tried and should have been refined. Instead of drawing close to God and letting Him change their mindsets, they rebelled on several occasions. God wasn't wanting to hurt them or cause them to wander aimlessly, He wanted to deliver them from the mindset of being slaves and the culture of Egypt. God doesn't lead us through anything that will end in destruction (Jeremiah 29:11) but it’s our choice if we want to follow His path or not. That’s why these stories are recorded in the Bible, so we can learn from them and not make the same mistakes.

What I think is most interesting is how discontent Korah and company were. Verse 13 of Numbers 16 says this:

Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?

They were so focused on their own comfort and how they felt, that they didn't look beyond their current circumstances to the hope of the promise land. They rather looked back to the bondage of Egypt and called that a blessing!! That’s what happens when you don’t recount Gods faithfulness and you don’t put your hope and trust in Him. You become disobedient and discontent. 

Korah, Dathan and Abiram let their pride, jealousy and discontentment grow rebellion in their hearts. That led them to try their own plans and ultimately to destruction. So, be on guard and always be thankful to God where you’re at and what you’re doing. 

Some practical advice on being content: 

• Know God has your life in His hand:  Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] - Hebrews 13:5 (AMP)
• Honor God where you are at, don’t despise the situation or the position you’re in right now. 
• Allow Him to change you in good times and bad. 

A Family Letter to God

A Family Letter to God

To our Heavenly Father, we declare our love for You.  We want You to know that You alone are our God and we put nothing else before You.  We entrust You with our lives, with our household, with our finances, and with our children.  We recognize that You are the one and only creator of this Earth.  We recognize the Bible as Your written Word, and we thank you for leaving us a document that we can turn to for wisdom and revelation.  Lord, we thank you for your Holy Spirit.  We confess that we will not take the Holy Spirit for granted, but we will listen to it because we know that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth.

Dear Father, we ask you to poor out Your blessing upon this house.  We thank You for the great mercy that You extend to us each and everyday.  Lord, we repent for not giving You the time You deserve.  We pray that we do not allow the distractions of this world to keep You from being the head of this house.  Lord, we forfeit this house to Your kingdom, and we pray that You are pleased with what You see in this family and this house.  If anything be in this house that is not pleasing to You, we ask that You make it known to us.  Our priority is to be satisfying to You so that You will feel welcome in this home.

Lord, we thank You for our children.  We recognize them as a blessing from You and we do not take them for granted.  Father, please continue to give us wisdom and guidance as we raise these children to respect and fear You.  We plead Numbers 6:24-27 over them (you can enter your child(s) name here).  We know that  they are blessed and will continue to be blessed.  We believe that they have a call on their lives, and we speak wisdom into them so that they may discern that call and meet it.

Lord, let our child(ren) be much better than their parents.  Teach them where their help comes from and show them everyday that You are Lord.  Show them their faults early in life so that they will learn to control them.  We want to raise them to be children of God who chose to put You above their flesh.  They will learn to stay diligent.  They will learn to disciple themselves, and they will learn to guard their heats against worldly things.  They will know the contents of Your Word so that they may know how to do battle at the gates of their eyes and ears.  They will not only where the armor of God, but they will also arm themselves in Your name.

Lord, we believe that You will provide profitable career paths for our child(ren).  We trust that they will receive the proper trainer that is needed for those careers.  We cast out any distractions such at debt that would come against them.  We say that all of their education will be paid for and that their paths will be made easy.  We take authority over who has influence over them, and we believe for those that love You to be involved in their lives.  We speak over friends, teachers, coachers, and supervisors.  Bring our boys favor with those that impact their lives in every situation.  We say that their spouse will be God fearing women who imitate the Proverbs Woman.  Their spouses are being raised in good homes that are teaching them to love and put You first.  We thank you that they will be blessed with beautiful children that they will help teach to do Your will.

Thank you Jesus for all of these things that You have blessed this family with.  We are the head and not the tail.  We are above only and not beneath.  Everything that we put our hands to shall prosper, and no weapon formed against us shall prosper.  Thank You for being our source and for providing work to channel financial blessings to us.  Teach us to be good stewards of Your money and the possessions that You allow us to have.  Please keep us humble, and never let us forget that we know nothing, we have nothing, and we are nothing without You.  Thank You for being our Lord and Savior.  Thank You for sending Your one and only Son to die on the cross for us.  Thank You for being present in our home, and thank You for communing with us on a regular basis.  All of these this we believe and say in Jesus name, Amen.  

Be Specific In Prayer

Recently I have really been studying prayer and faith. Luke 11:1-13 talks about prayer and how to pray. Verse 9-10 says: 

⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

¹⁰ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

This verse tells me that God is willing and able to answer prayers when we ask. Then Jesus goes on to say: 

¹¹ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

This passage is assurance that God is more than willing to meet our spiritual and material needs. One thing that the God has been challenging me with recently is to be specific with my prayers. He give you what you ask for if it is according to His will and if you are not asking to consume it upon your own lusts (James 4:1-4). When one prays a general prayer it is mostly because of unbelief. We don’t want to ask God for specifics because in the back of our minds we think “Well I might not get what I pray for.”. 

I love Luke 11:11-12 because Jesus is telling us that whatever we ask He WILL give it to us. If we ask to have an opportunity to witness to 5 people tomorrow He will give us those 5 opportunities, not 1 or 3 but what we ask for! James 5:16 tells us that the fervent, EFFECTIVE prayers of a righteous man avails much. 

So I encourage you to study prayer out for yourself, it’s a much larger topic than what I am covering, but here are some points that you can apply in your prayer life today.

• Have faith in God to provide your needs
• Don’t be general about your prayer, be specific and watch God provide
• Believe ONLY don’t let doubt tell you God doesn't hear or answer.
• Meditate on God’s Word to build your faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17)