Agapē Love
Posted on Mar 11, 2015 in Newsletter |
It was one of those days. A few years into marriage and the pressure had been raised to the very limit. It was then that my lovely bride looked at me in anticipation and I simply said, “I love you”. It was not the words I had expressed, but the tone in which I had uttered them. The tone was one of sarcasm. Almost a scowl. The tone was what hurt her. I can look at this time with my wife now and laugh. For now, when we are agitating one another, we simply look, smile and say, “I love you”. Code for STOP.
I have shared this to show that we, all of us, use words in the wrong context much of the time. When we look into the Scripture, we see the word love used in different ways but they are different words, yet we only use “love”. Romans 12:9 tells us “Let love be without dissimulation,”. Love without hypocrisy. The greek word used is agapē. This word means to have an affection accompanied with a desire to promote another’s happiness. This is also the word used when Jesus said that all men would know that we are His disciples if we LOVE one another. He commanded us to love one another, as He loves us!
How has your love been for the brethren? How has it been with your family? How has it been for your Savior, Jesus Christ? May we all find the true love of Christ in each of our hearts and share it with the world!
The Privilege of Prayer
Posted on Mar 10, 2015 in Newsletter |
I grew up listening to my family singing songs about our Lord. As I read that Holy Book that God has written to us, these songs come to mind. I read in Psalms 34, that the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. It is comforting to know that as small as I am, I have the attention of the God of all things! The words of “How Great It Is” comes to my memory. A song of how a man strains to beg for the attention of a god of sticks and stones. One that cannot see or hear. Then I ponder that I can fall upon my knees and pray to God and He hears me and He is watching over me!
What a privilege to have a relationship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! When I pray, I do not have to be in a certain physical place. I do not have to perform any ritual. God has given the great privilege to speak with Him by simply praying!
I implore you today, do not neglect that wonderful gift God has graciously bestowed to us! It is a direct line, with no waiting to the throne of God!
God is Good
Posted on Mar 9, 2015 in Newsletter |
Countless times we have heard that wonderful responsive quote, “God is good, all the time!” It has almost become a cliché. But the goodness of God is far from a cliché. Many have witnessed and felt the warmth of the goodness of God in their own lives. I myself have known the depths of His goodness. It is there that we fall into the danger of thinking it mundane that God is good, all the time. I am reminded of the words of the lamenting prophet, Jeremiah! “It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”
He has been good to us in that we have awakened another day. He has been good to us to breathe the fresh air of the world! Today, gaze at the new mercies that have been provided! Ponder that God has not allowed you to be consumed! He has been faithful! Indeed, God is good, all the time.
Pastor’s Corner
Posted on Mar 8, 2015 in Newsletter |
Today is the beginning of daylight savings time. The negative of this is that we all lost an hour of sleep. The positive is that we have another hour of light in our life. What if we take that to our personal life? Is there anything we could gain by giving up one hour? The list could be endless. Many people give up an hour of sleep to get up and exercise. This is tremendously helpful to us. Some give up an hour of sleep to get tasks done at work that they can spend more time with their family! Let us take the sacrifice of one hour and apply it to our spiritual walk. What if we spent an hour in the Word of God? What if we spent an hour in prayer? We lost an hour of sleep that we can have an extra hour of daylight, why not give up an hour to receive some of the true light. The illumination on our soul that can help us touch another’s life. An hour for God’s light? What a deal! What are you willing to do to get a little extra light in your life?
Remember When
Posted on Feb 15, 2015 in Newsletter |
“Do you remember when…?” This is a question that we hear at a family gathering, a time of fellowship with friends and is usually followed by a great story. The human nature will always desire to revert back and bring forward those wonderful times memories of times past. It is just our nature. Families will gather and reminisce of times past. Friends will role back in laughter over times in the past. But time is gone. We can never relive the moment that just past. It is gone forever. When we look at the passing time in this light, it gives new meaning to how we spend each moment.Every second of every day is precious. How are we spending our valuable time? Is it spending time with our Lord? Are we spending time with our families with our Lord? The day is long spent and time is swiftly passing by! Decide today that you will spend your time for the Lord! Look back at the closing of life and say “Remember when” instead of “I wish I had.”
