Tag: Love

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There Was An Almost

OCTOBER 15

MATTHEW 7:11_If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children…

God loves everyone, the entire world. So much so that He let His own Son suffer and die for the world. 

God wants righteousness and goodness to reign supreme—as it did for a brief time in the Garden of Eden—pure perfection not only in people, but in all nature. But there was an almost in that perfection. When the almost won the battle over free will, everything changed—but God didn’t. He’s still just, He still has all power, and He’s still God of the Impossible.

I believe Jesus in His infinite power and unsurpassed love, works every day to restore as much of the Garden experience as possible in our fallen world. Every time He transforms a heart and gives it the ability to become salt and light, He’s made some restoration. It will take a new heaven and a new earth to bring full restoration.

When God uses evil people in ways that result in good for His children, He is exercising His fatherly powers. God wants fathers to do good to and for their children. Unfortunately, there are those whose fathers genuinely neglect, abuse, and abandon them.

God has a plan for those children as well, Psalm 27:10 (KJV), “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.”

PRAYER

Jesus Lord, Only You can transform—we all need it. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                          

Christ’s love is perfection—I want to love like that!

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He Teaches With Questions

OCTOBER 13

MATTHEW 7:10_a fish, will he give him a serpent?

Why all this talk about discipline? What does it have to do with Jesus’ teaching on asking between a father and children? In order for a child to feel free to ask anything of a father, the relationship has to be right.  In order for the relationship to be right, it must be founded on love. 

Jesus teaches this child-father relationship as He wants the relationship to be. He teaches with questions. A statement can be passed over, but questions require answers. Answers require think time.

Would a father give his child a serpent if the child asked for fish? You can’t just ignore a question—you are expected to give an answer. Notice, Jesus asks in a way to cause you to answer the obvious—of course not! No father would deprive his child of basic needs; nevertheless give his child something harmful!

I Timothy 5:8 (KJV), “But if any [father] provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 

II Corinthians 12:14 (KJV), “Behold, the third time I [Paul] am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.”

PRAYER

Great I AM, Please bless my parents, or my authorities, with Your love. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                              

Christ loves families – He helps me love mine!

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Its Own Package of Pain

OCTOBER 12

MATTHEW 7:10_Or if he ask…

Hebrews 12:7 (KJV), “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”

When God disciplines you He considers you His child. He makes something else very plain—the child who is loved will be disciplined. When you’re old enough to be in authority and you love people, you will help them be accountable for their actions. Why? Because you are old enough to know the boomerang effect of lack of personal responsibility. You know it from your personal life, and you know it from other peoples’ mistakes. You also know by this time that life brings its own package of pain. There is no need in crowding your life with self-created pain. 

The apostle John repeats this concept in the final book of the Bible, Revelation 3:19 (KJV), “As many as I [Jesus] love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” 

In God’s plan for life, parents and children are to be bound together in love. Discipline and love go together. Parents and children go together. The four of them together are God’s perfect plan.

Colossians 3:14 (KJV), “And above all these things put on charity [perfect love], which is the bond of perfectness.”

PRAYER

Lord of Love, Please bind my family together in love. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                              

Christ wants love to hold families together—I do too!

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Sovereignty

OCTOBER 9

MATTHEW 7:9_bread, will he give him a stone?

God is the father portion of the Trinity. He wants to be yours. Because God is a loving and just Father, He gives freedom to accept or reject Him. To accept God is to accept His sovereignty in your life.

An earthly father may fail you, and for that matter you may fail your earthly father. Your Heavenly Father will never fail you. Jesus has already made it clear that the Heavenly Father meets needs of food and clothes – even if you have to go through a time when they are limited. 

Jesus teaches the kind of heart that He wants in an earthly father—one who loves his children and meets their needs.  

God wants children to feel free to ask their fathers to meet their needs. He wants fathers to love and trust His heart, and believe He will help them to meet the needs of their family. Fathers who love God and have a desire to guide their families in His steps, will not lack God’s support. Again, that does not mean you get everything you want. It means something far greater. 

John 14:23 (KJV), “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

The very God of Heaven and His Holy Son are a daily part of the lives of their children. 

God is a true father!

PRAYER

True God, Help me grow into a Godly person who keeps Your Words. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.          

Christ wants to consume me with His love—I want it!

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He Does It All!

OCTOBER 6

MATTHEW 7:9_Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask…

One of the great mysteries of the spiritual life is the Trinity. The Triune God who functions as three-in-one. 

The Bible teaches God can function as the Eternal Father, the Jehovah-Jireh provider, and as the I AM. The Bible teaches this same God can function as the Son, the Creator of all that exists, and as the Christ, the Messiah who saves for eternity all who believe. The Bible also teaches this same God can function as the indwelling Holy Spirit, who comforts, who teaches, and who guides. No wonder He is all-powerful—He does it all! 

Jesus calls God, Father. So do I. Jesus taught to pray to God as My Father, which art in Heaven. As a Jesus follower, you are a child of God. II Corinthians 1:3 (KJV), “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” Be comfortable in God because He loved you before you loved Him. 

God wanted King David to know how to call upon Him. Psalm 89:27 (KJV), “He [King David … and me] shall cry unto me [God], Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”

God is all those things to me.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I stand in awe of You and worship You as my Father. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.          

Christ teaches me God is my Father—I am His child!