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May 20th, 2008

Love Them Into the Church

Posted in Religious Resources

1 John 4:7-12

Sometimes even as Christians we tend to be judgemental or critical of someone who is not a believer or isn’t as far in their Christian walk as others. We may look at a person’s behavior in scorn. We may not even realize we do it, for we have no intention of hurting them.

Even though my sons have been raised in the church and brought up in a Christian home, at ages seventeen and twenty-one, God is definitely not finished with them yet. They’re not perfect. They are also at a vulnerable age where they are questioning their faith, the Bible, and the beliefs which they have been taught.

Thank God, we attend a church that is very kind and tolerant. The truth is preached, but sinners are welcomed, not condemned. I’m so glad, because right now it is an effort to even get them to go to church. If they thought people were going to gossip about them, judge them, or shun them because they are not measuring up, I don’t think they would go at all.

This has made me very aware of how I treat people. After all, Christ came to save sinners. He came for the sick, not the well. If we turn away the very people who need him, what a terrible eternal consequence that could have!

So when I see people coming to church, or anywhere for that matter, I try to treat them the way I would want my own sons to be treated. I want to act in love, not rejection.

My mother was right when she always said, “We have to love people into the church.”

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Remind us that the very essence of your character is love. Please fill us with your love, so that it becomes the essence of our character, too. May we demonstrate your love to others so that they will be drawn to you, not repulsed by Christianity.

About the Author

Jessica Gerald is a Christian wife, mother of two sons, and an elementary schoolteacher of thirty years. Her website is Ladies Ministry Online.
http://www.ladiesministryonline.com

May 3rd, 2008

Color Me Love

Posted in Religious Resources

For those who walk in the flesh, the law is given.

Some only see in black and white.

And, yet, there is a more excellent way. Others see in color
and, when they do, that color is love.

“Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence
toward God.”

1 John 3:21

The Bible tells us to love our enemies, pray for them, turn the
other cheek, and many like things. It also tells us to stand
against evil. There are times to pluck up that which was
planted, to shake the dust off our feet, and more.

If we hold to the law, we remain captive in circumstances that
God gave us other provisions for. We still adamantly believe in
the law. The difference is that we trust God to reveal to us
which law He requires at any given time.

What ever God speaks to us is the ultimate/absolute law.

Praise God, He is a Living God!

“Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I
have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary
food.”

Job 23:12

The whole entire law is complete and fulfilled through
following this one verse: thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. If you do that, you have covered God’s intent for every
law within the Bible.

Sometimes, tuff love will be required. Perhaps, sacrificial
love is what will meet the need. Holy love may be necessary.
Sometimes we are to love as a parent, other times as a child.
How do we know when our rightful place should be where? We can
only know by listening for and following God, as He is the One
that sees their heart. And always, above every other form of
love, we have to stand for our love for Him.

“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all
men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle
of Christ ministered by us,

written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God;

not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

II Co. 3:2-3

God is love and, however often He requests to live through us,
let us give a right answer and say, “Color me love.”

© by Joyce C. Lock

http://my.homewithgod.com/blessingsandlessons/

This writing may be used in its entirety, with credits in tact,
for non-profit ministering purposes.