Friday, December 31, 2010

True Love & How to Walk in It: Chapter 18

Well it has been a month and I thought I should finish the book before the new year begins. Love you all! Happy 2011!

Chapter Eighteen
WALKING IN LOVE

You could say this is my "motto". But it is not just my motto; it is the prescription God gave us to live our lives by. You and I change the lives we touch. We have the capacity to bring love and laughter and encouragement to those we come in contact with.
God is love! (1 John 4:8) When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God poured out His love into us through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). We should be transformed by it. He is there to help us and guide us into who God says we are. But it is up to us to walk it out. Galatians 5:6 says only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love shows that we are in Christ. Jesus said in John 13:35 that people would recognize we are in Him by our love walk.
I really noticed a change in my life when I decided to do just that. The word says to love your neighbor as (you do) yourself. (Matt 22:39) To treat others as you would have them treat you.
God said to love Him with everything and to love everyone around you as you love yourself. He said these commandments summed up the Law and how we are to walk, for if we love, we would obey all the commandments - old and new (Galatians 5:14).

LOVE YOURSELF

First and foremost, in our duty to walk in love, we need to take care of ourselves: spiritually, mentally and physically. We cannot truly treat others with love if we don’t love ourselves first. When we love ourselves, it filters down to and through others. Proverbs 14:1 says the wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down”. I would say that goes for everyone not just women.
We are to love ourselves (Matt 22:39). Have you ever met someone who doesn’t love themself? They may be depressed and have nothing positive to say. Or maybe they seem perfect but think they can’t do anything right. They may think of themselves as ugly and useless. I have seen several examples of people who do not love themselves. I used to be one. I had this feeling of needing to be accepted and wanted. There was an absence of something that I didn’t know I needed. I was the type of person that never wanted anyone mad at me, I didn’t want to hear no from my parents. Not because I was scared of them, just the word, it was rejection. When I got to high school I dated some but never really had that “love” that I was seeking. I had thought I was in love but that person didn’t have the same feelings for me, so there again was that feeling of rejection. I think out of desperation I found the first guy that pampered me and attached myself to him. I was going to be and do whatever I needed to do for this relationship to work. I started doing things that were not me because he did them and I wanted to be with him. We got married and at some point I just couldn’t keep up the charade. My life was getting darker and darker. I was scared everyday that if I wasn’t what he wanted me to be and do what he wanted me to, he would leave me. Well, guess what? He left me anyway. I did not love myself enough to be me and think that was good enough.
We need to remember that God made us in His image (Genesis 1:26). He knew us before we were created. He knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). God knows we are not perfect, he isn’t looking for perfection. He is looking for a relationship - someone to guide into who He created us to be. So we first need to do some self-examining. We need to find our weaknesses and then get on our knees and ask God’s forgiveness for our weaknesses and where we might be missing it. We need to ask Him to guide us in the path He wants us to take. To help us bind those weaknesses and find our strengths. This may be something we have to do daily - but that’s okay. That is what God wants us to do. We can’t truly do the things we need and are expected to do for God, for ourselves and those that depend on and look to us for guidance, on our own. But we can do all things through Christ Who gives us strength (Philippians 4:14).
To get closer to God, to know what God wants us to do, we need to spend time with Him. In fact, so many places in the Word, God is telling us to seek Him. To abide in Him. Psalm 91 says “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty - whose power no foe can withstand. For then…”. We can have stability under God when we live in His presence. We need to MAKE TIME to spend with Him. This is in part what Jesus was saying when He told us to crucify the flesh as Galatians 5:24 says “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions, appetites and desires”. We need to make ourselves get up early or stay up late and take that time to spend with the Lord. We need to get on our hands and knees and pray for all those in need including ourselves. We need to be like Jesus. We need to make time to spend with God. To meditate on His Word, praise Him and thank Him and just rest in His presence. It might be hard at first, to put other things aside but the more we do it the easier it will become. Whenever you have your time with God, it needs to be a time to focus and think and listen. We need to pray, worship and read our bibles and listen for His wisdom. We also need to talk with Him throughout our day. Thank Him for little things like good parking places, finding our keys, making it to the gas station before we run out of gas. We need to ask Him questions that we need answers for even if they seem minor like “why am I having a hectic day?”. This may seem strange but have you ever find that your talking to yourself, maybe that is our spirit trying to do what it knows it should do. Just flip it around and start talking to God instead. Our first priority needs to be developing a relationship with God. It may not happen on day one, but the more we open ourselves up to hear Him it WILL happen. It may not be an audible voice but you will feel it in your spirit and you will know that it is from God. Don’t be discouraged if you slip. Repent and start again. It is never too late.

LOVE YOUR FAMILY

Now our duty after taking care of ourselves, is to take care of our families. Spouses, we need to listen to one another. Encourage each other. Listen to what the other person is saying. Put the other first. We need to tell our spouses we love them everyday. We need to show them respect everyday. We should never be-little them to make ourselves look or feel better. We need to look for and praise the things they do instead of complain about the things they don’t. Just like the old saying goes “you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar”. We should be in the mindset that we are still dating. Don’t let the humdrum of life let you forget why you fell in love. Wives, give your husbands some space when they get home from work before you and the kids bombard him for his attention. Give him a smile and kiss and … time. Make him feel that he gets some pampering just like you give the kids. And husbands, listen when your wife is talking, respond so she knows you are listening. Hold her hand or kiss her without expectations. We need to remember our spouses are supposed to be second behind only God in our attention and affection. Easier said than done - I know, but yet THAT IS God’s proper order of things.
Now take those precious blessings that take up most of our days. Our children look to us for comfort, support and as their teachers. Proverbs 31:26 and 28 says “she opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness; giving counsel and instruction. Her children rise up and call her blessed; happy, fortunate and to be envied.” Our children need our parenting. We need to train them in the ways of manners. We need to nurture them with our hugs and kisses. We need to develop their minds and attitudes. We need to prepare them to be the adults they will become and we need to teach them that God loves them and how to be like Jesus. We need to be there with a high-five when they do good and a rod (Proverbs 23:13-14) when they aren’t. God tells us that if we do not discipline our children we hate them, but by our discipline we show our love for them (Proverbs 13:24). I believe God blessed us with children to give us just a hint of what His great love for us is. We should take that responsibility very seriously.
Society today says that our children are so fragile that a harsh word or swat on the bottom can damage their little personalities for life. Having at one time been a child who got my fair share of spankings, even in high school and am now raising two children, I have to say I find that argument very amusing and actually very sad. I have seen evidence of this kind of philosophy. I have seen children hold their parents and households hostage by their unreasonable demands. I have also seen homes where discipline is given but consistency and follow through are absent. I know, for our family, that because our kids got swats or spankings and reprimands the older they have gotten the less I have to do that. Sometimes of course, I have to go in that direction, but more often than not I can just make them aware of their behavior and it changes.
We have tried to teach our children how Jesus wants us to behave and how sad or happy their behavior makes Him. We have told them that when they do what they know they aren’t supposed to, it makes the devil really happy. Since we have implemented that, our children have started to put this physical world and the spiritual world into something they can grasp. Am I saying this is the way for everyone? Of course not. All I am saying is this is what we have found works for us and our kids. Not by our own wisdom, but by prayer and petitioning the wisdom of God. Children need structure and boundaries. They need to know where the line in the sand is drawn. They will try and cross it but are always looking to their parents to remind them that it is there. They aren’t born with the knowledge of goodness. It has to be taught. Every child knows how to lie and they don’t even have to try - just like we all sin and we had to be taught what being good was. Jesus is where we get that knowledge. So we must teach our children the good qualities that help us to be like Jesus. We need to see ourselves as overseers of the Gospel in our homes. We need to be about our Father’s business (Luke 2:49).

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

Ephesians 4:32 tells us to be useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave us. We could call this being hospitable but I like to call it “walking in love”.
When we put ourselves in that mindset, we will notice a change. Everyone can have a bad day. We start to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. The express cashier in the not-so-express line. The waitress who got our order wrong. The car driving 30 miles an hour in a 50 mile an hour zone. Walking in love is again, what we are commanded to do. We are even commanded to love our enemies (Luke 6:35). We are supposed to love others as God loves us. Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor. In 1 Corinthians 8:1 it says love edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow to our full potential. We should be edifying each other instead of tearing each other down. We should be praying for each other instead of picking out flaws. In Chapter 5:6 of Galatians it says that only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love shows that we are in Christ. I could go on and on and quote scripture that tells us to walk in love. God is love and love never fails.
The Word also says we reap what we sow. If we give love we will reap love. Love is the foundation of everything. We need to open our hearts, abilities and even our homes to those who God brings across our paths. We are to show the love of Jesus through our words but even more so through our actions. We need to practice what we preach. This is an area where Christians get criticized the most as being hypocrites. So by walking in love we are adding to our lives the abundance of God’s love and people will see God’s love in us and we will be a testimony to Him. We should be living examples of God’s love. We must remember that the “love walk” starts at home. First to God, to ourselves, to our families and then to others. Philemon 1:7 says For I have derived great joy and comfort and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been cheered and refreshed through you my brother.
One of the greatest things God gave us was the ability to pray. To intercede for ourselves as well as others. To bring needs, wants and desires to the Lord and ask for His guidance, favor, blessing and strength. God knows what we need and want before we even think them much less speak them, but putting them into words brings faith and allows God to do His work in us and through us. If you cannot help someone through a gift of service, a prayer is just as good, if not better. Philippians 4:6 says do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
We cannot always give money. We cannot always give physical time. But we can always pray.
We need not be discouraged by what we think we should be. We need to embrace what God has given us and become who He wants us to be to Him, to ourselves, to our families and to all who we come in contact with.
We need to look at ourselves not just as husbands and wives and sons and daughters but more important we are God’s children and we are to act and be like Jesus! WE CAN DO THIS! God made us able to do it. Don’t listen to the devil tell you, you can’t, that your not good enough, that it’s too much. We have to remember, the devil is here to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He will use any thought, any person, any circumstance to tear us down and make us believe we don’t have what it takes. By ourselves, yes the devil is right, but with God we can move mountains (Mark 11:23)!

LOVE WITH YOUR WORDS

One thing that I have learned in my studies is that you can take a scripture and get so many different lessons from just that one. I learn something new everyday. Did you know that Christianity is called the “great confession”.
On the subject of words, we often think about and are taught that how we speak to other people and respond with our words, shows love and an example of how we should act as Christians. But, we don’t often hear about how our words set in motion the circumstances we face.
In Hosea 4:6 God said My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge”. Proverbs 18:20 says A man’s moral self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth and the consequences of his words he must be satisfied whether good or evil. In other words, what we speak is what is in our hearts and we must accept the consequences of the words we speak whether the outcome be good or bad.
God created everything by His spoken Word. God said “let there be light and there was light” etc. Jesus is referred to as The Word. That should mean that words are important.

Psalm 34:13 (Amplified)
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

Proverbs 21:23 (Amplified)
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.

Proverbs 6:1-2 (KJV)
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth.

Proverbs 12:14 (Amplified)
From the fruit of his words a man shall be satisfied with good.

Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified)
Death and life are in the tongue and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it, for life or death.

Proverbs 25:11 (Amplified)
A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 (Amplified)
Be not rash with your mouth and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God.

2 Timothy 3:16 (Amplified)
But avoid all empty talk, for it will lead people to more and more ungodliness.

James 3:10 (Amplified)
Out of the mouth come blessing and cursing.

1 Peter 3:10 (Amplified)
For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceit.

We as believers have let the devil deceive us. He has made us believe that our words have no power. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.“ - sound familiar. But clearly just from the few scriptures above, that is not the case.
We believers need to start watching our words. We need to quit throwing words around like they aren’t important and start using them like our lives depended upon it - because according to the Word, THEY DO!
Just as James 1:22 says be doers of the Word and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth which is the Word.
All of us at one time or another have made statements of fear, doubt, unbelief and sickness:
“that scared me to death”, “I’m dying to go”, I’m sick and tired”, “I always get the flu”, “I’m losing my mind”, “We never have enough money”. This would also include, to my estimation, generational curses such as saying “heart disease or cancer runs in my family”, “all men die young in my family”, “my grandmother had Alzheimer’s I probably will too”. We call them “figures of speech” you may even call them facts. But it is backwards from what God’s Word says.
Just as Proverbs 18:21 says Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit, we get the results of what we say. If we want health we should confess health, whether we feel healthy or not. If we don’t want a stubborn child, quit telling everyone their stubborn (even if they are). Our words hold the power of life and death, blessings and curses, even our salvation. Even our salvation comes by our words, we have to confess it to receive it. God said it and it was. Why would it be any different in the other areas of our lives?
We are in a spiritual war with Satan and his demons. The devil is a thief, a killer and a destroyer. He wants to keep us down and looking at our circumstances instead of what the Word says about our circumstances.
In this world our words are like the rudder on a boat, setting us on the course of our lives. By our words we either give Satan control of our circumstances or God.
Satan uses our thoughts, distorts them and puts them in our minds. Then as we dwell on them, they go into our spirit and finally they come out our mouths. Everything that is of doubt, unbelief, and discouragement is of the devil. God never talks doubt, unbelief and discouragement to anyone. The Israelites could have made it into the promised land, expect they listened to the bad confessions of the spies instead of what God told them. They believed a false confession. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones to say they could take the land. They believed the word of God, confessed it and did it.
Spiritual power operates in our lives when we take the thought and then speak it. In speaking it over and over again our spirit becomes full of those thoughts until they come out of our mouths without even thinking. Those words can either be full of faith or fear, love or hate, whatever thoughts we have been speaking. If we want to win the battle of the mind, we have to fight thoughts with words. If we will speak the Word, we’ll defeat Satan every time. Just like Jesus did in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-10). Faith comes by hearing the Word.
I know that when we don’t feel well or we have issues in our lives we want empathy, we want to vent or let off steam but that is definitely not what we should do. Jesus said call things that be not as though they are (Romans 4:17). It is said so many times in scripture such as Joel 3:10 let the weak say I AM STRONG. When we focus on the Word, when we live from the spirit of faith and total dependence on God, we will conquer impossible situations. So even though we say we have faith - our words counter act that. We need to quit speaking the problem and start confessing deliverance. We as believers should never talk failure, doubt or unbelief. We should talk faith. James 3:10 says out of the mouth comes blessings and curses.
Walk It Out

The Word - the bible - is our example of God taking care of us. Showing us how to act and how to talk. Psalm 23 for example says “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack”, “He refreshes and restores my life”, “I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me” and “surely goodness, mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life”.

Psalm 34:19 (Amplified)
Many evils confront the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him out of all of them.

Psalm 91:3 (Amplified)
For then He will deliver me from the snare of the fowler (Satan and his devils) and from the deadly pestilence (a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating).

Psalm 91:15 & 16 (Amplified)
He shall call upon Me and I will deliver him. I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.

Psalm 103:3 (Amplified)
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.

Psalm 103:8 (Amplified)
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving kindness.

Philippians 4:6 and 19 (Amplified)
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything by prayer and definite requests, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And my God will liberally supply your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Mark 11:24 (Amplified)
I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that it is granted to you and you will get it.

Jesus said we could have what we say, but we are saying what we have.
Just as our words can give power to Satan, so can our words bring about God’s power. When we speak words of Truth in the midst of the impossible, God’s angels come to help us (Hebrews 1:14). They are waiting on our words. The situation might look impossible but God is the God of the impossible. There is nothing He can’t do. He will deliver us. He didn’t say He might - He said HE WILL!
If we can believe the bible and get our mouths right, then we can get our lives right. Jesus said in Matthew 15:11 and 18 it is not what goes into a man that defiles him, it is what comes out.
Whatever our situation we need to go to the Word. Find scriptures dealing with the subject. Write them down, meditate on them, speak them throughout the day, every day, confess them - put your name in them and don’t give up.
Satan will challenge you. You won’t think your situation is changing or that it is getting worse but stand strong in the face of Satan and refuse to give up. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) Give him the same answer Jesus did, “it is written” then tell him what the Word says regarding your situation. Don’t have more faith in the circumstances than you do in God. It is easier to blame God than it is to think you don’t have enough faith in God. Be patient. Look at the Israelites, it took forty years before they were able to enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:6). Look how long Simeon waited for Jesus (Luke 2:25). And the man at the pool of Bethesda, he was thirty-eight years old before he received his healing. (John 5:7-8). Look at the man possessed by a legion of evil spirits - he had been that way for years (Mark 5). Look at how long it took Hannah before she became pregnant (1 Samuel 1). It took seven years of praying, for exactly what I wanted in a husband, before that prayer was answered - even beyond what I had asked for. Don’t put your time limits on God and then start to worry and lose hope. We don’t receive according to God’s ability - we know He can do all things - we receive according to our faith (Galatians 3:14).
We need to just use the wisdom God has given us. We need to train our mouths to be obedient to His Word. Then, when we need it most, we will find the Word dwelling in us. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be “followers of God, as dear children…”. Follower in the Greek means to imitate. We are to imitate God as a child imitates his father. When we study Jesus’ life, there are several facts that caused Him to overcome the World, flesh and Satan: Jesus prayed often but He didn’t pray the problem - He prayed what God said was the answer. His conversations and speech always consist of what God said. Jesus never spoke the problem, He never confessed present circumstances - He spoke the desired results.
Galatians 6:7 and 8 says God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Just as much as we love and want all for our children, that is just the beginning of God’s love and wants for us. So by walking in love we are adding to our lives the abundance of God's love and everything He promised us - salvation and the blessing of Abraham (the abundance in all areas of our lives [Psalms 23 & Psalms 91& Ephesians 3:6]) - and people will see God's love in us and we will be a testimony to Him. He said He would supply all our needs.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (Amplified)
God is able to make every favor and earthly blessing come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need, possess enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance every good work and charitable donation.

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (Amplified)
And God Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your resources for sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness and charity. Thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous and your generosity as it is administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God.

We also need to remember that faith works by love. If you aren’t seeing God working in your life you might need to check your love walk.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

The Word - the Bible - shows us how to become new creatures in Christ. We need to use the wisdom God has given us. By walking in love, we are adding to our lives the abundance of God’s love and everything He promised us and people will see God’s love in us and we will be a testimony to Him. We should be a living example of God's love. It is like the example we often hear of someone honking and giving the finger and cussing out someone who cut in front of them on the road and when the car passed them they had a icthus (Jesus fish) on the back of their car. What about hearing someone who is demeaning to other people, or complaining about how they are always sick and nothing in their life is going right, or participates in gossiping and then this person is proclaiming God’s grace to an unbeliever. Is that the example God or we want to set? Would someone want to be a Christian by seeing our example?
Can you see how much He loves you? Do you see how He wants to bless you? Now, how can we show our love to God? One of the reasons I felt led to write this book is to defend my Father. Not out of anger but out of sadness. People like to say “God is in control” to explain away things they don’t understand or don’t want to acknowledge. That phrase is used as a crutch.
It is sad to me because it puts God in box and restricts His power. It is a “religious” saying but it is scripturally wrong. Now you might say the bible says He is in control and you would be right but unless you abide in Him and follow what the Word says, you haven’t given Him the authority to intercede or be in control of your life.
We need to remember He doesn’t force His will upon anyone. If that weren’t the case everyone would be saved automatically and not given the choice to do so.
We cannot live how we want to or to follow God’s requirements when we feel like it or to pick and choose which ones we want to follow, then wonder why things are not going the way we want them to. If we are not being led by God - that means living the way He said to live - then we are being led by Satan. If we open the door by our disobedience, Satan will barrel on through and let us blame God for it. The sad thing is - it works! God is blamed everyday for the works of the devil.
We have to remember God is our Father. Just as much as we love and want for our children, that is just the beginning of God’s love and wants for us. He does not want to hurt us. He doesn’t want to punish us. He wants to save us and bless us. The Word tells us to stay in fellowship with Him. That means we have to put on our “cross” or “crucify our flesh” by making time to be in fellowship with Him. If you think about it, when there is something we want to do, we usually make time for it.
Joyce Meyer once said “A believer is someone who believes Jesus and goes to church. A disciple believes Jesus and changes their thoughts and actions to be more like Jesus.” When you love someone, you want to spend time with them, talk with them and get to know them. That is how we should feel about God. That is how He feels about us.
I bought my children a bible that is so awesome. Every story from Old to New Testament puts Jesus in the center. I cry every time I read it to them. They laugh because mommy is crying, but one day they will understand.
This is a passage from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones:
No, the Bible is not a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It is an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back His lost treasure. It is a love story about a brave Prince who leaves His palace, his throne - everything - to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!
You see, the best thing about this Story is - it’s true.
There are many stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.
We must never forget that God loves us (John 3:!6)!

Romans 8:31-39 (Amplified)
31 What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]
32 He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect [when it is] God Who justifies [that is, Who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?]
34 Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?
35 Who shall ever separate us from Christ's love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?
36 Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Yet amid all these things, we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers,
39 Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we realize God’s love for us we can learn to serve God by showing other’s what God’s love looks like. We need to love others with the same love that He gives us (John 13:34-35). Remember we reap what we sow. Sow good seed and you shall reap a great harvest. When we show Jesus through our words, actions, attitude and lives people will want what we have.
Be like Jesus - Walk in Love.


If you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life and would like to begin that relationship, it is so easy. Tell Him you need Him, ask Him to forgive you of your sins, tell him you want to be made new in the likeness of Him. You are saved by the blood of Jesus He shed on the cross.
Now out of obedience, find a church, if you don’t already have one, and tell them you wish to be baptized out of obedience to the Word and as an announcement to the World of the life changing decision you have made.
Trust in Him and know He is with you!
Be blessed.
"A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all." Psalm 34:19