We love others
who meet our needs,
whom we get along with,
who make us feel good,
who do things for us,
whom we like.
In essence, our first concern is for our own well-being and having our own needs met, and we love others in proportion to the extent they fulfill those purposes. Our second concern is that others respond positively to our overtures; if they don’t, we refuse to continue to love them. But Jesus outlined a radically different kind of love – a love that puts the needs and well-being of others before our own to the extent we would sacrifice our time, our energy, our money, and our thoughts in order to demonstrate it. We are to demonstrate it to others whom we may not like or with whom we may be incompatible or who respond negatively or who may never do anything for us in return! Now that’s radical!
I do not pray that You should take them
out of the world, but that You should keep them
from the evil one.
Blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. § You are the salt of the earth … the light of the world. § Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I also withheld you from sinning against Me.
The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. § I did not do so, because of the fear of God. § [He] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. § Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
John 17:15; Phil. 2:15; Matt. 5:13–14; 5:16; Gen. 20:6;
2 Thess. 3:3; Neh. 5:15; Gal. 1:4; Jude vv. 24–25
Whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high. § The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens … He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes.
God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? … For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prov. 29:25; Isa. 33:5; Ps. 113:4, 7–8;
Eph. 2:4–6; Rom. 8:32, 38–39
The cross is not just a symbol of love or a fashion statement. The cross is your daily decision to deny yourself,
your rights,
your wants,
your dreams,
your plans,
your goals,
and deliberately, wholeheartedly, unreservedly live out your commitment to His will and His way and His Word and His wisdom. The cross is your decision to live for Jesus. Period. No “ifs,” “ands,” “buts,” or “maybes.”
Would you take up your cross . . . every day . . . and follow Him?
You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.
The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment. § We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. § I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.
You were washed … you were sanctified … you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. § The royal daughter is all glorious within. § “Your beauty … was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
These are the ones who … washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. § A glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but … holy and without blemish. § You are complete in Him.
Song 4:7; Isa. 1:5–6; 64:6; Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 6:11; Ps. 45:13;
Ezek. 16:14; Ps. 90:17; Rev. 7:14; Eph. 5:27; Col. 2:10
Broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Eve … bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens.” … The Lord scattered them. § Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan … It was well watered everywhere … like the garden of the Lord … But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. § I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards … I also gathered for myself silver and gold … Then I looked on all … and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. § He satisfies the long- ing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Jer. 2:13; Gen. 4:1; 11:4, 8; 13:11, 10, 13; Eccl. 1:17–18;
2:4, 8, 11; John 7:37; Ps. 107:9; Col. 3:2
What problem are you facing that is bigger than you are? Praise God for the omnipotence of Jesus Christ! He is the Almighty – mightier than all. Greater, more powerful, than any problem or situation you or I will ever face. In fact, one reason God allows us to have problems and be in situations that seem bigger than we are is so we can discover His “incomparably great power for us who believe.”
If our lives are easy, and if all we ever attempt for God is what we know we can handle, how will we ever experience His omnipotence in our lives?
It is when we are in over our heads . . .
when we are cornered with no way out . . .
when we are facing the Red Sea in front of us, the desert on either side of us, and the Egyptian army in back of us . . .
that’s when we discover His power!
