Love

Love is not as easy or pleasant as it sounds. It is effortless to say “I love you” but so hard to demonstrate in real life. The Bible calls Christians to love “not with words or speech but with actions and truth” (1Jn.3:18). It is not that the words are wrong, but they are certainly not enough to qualify as biblical love. And the “actions” aren’t just any benevolent actions that please the giver, they are to be specifically aimed at the well-being and benefit of the recipient. They are actions and truths that build up, encourage, correct, challenge, and meet the need of the recipient. Such actions can be difficult, involve sacrifice and are sometimes downright painful.  Consider Christ’s ultimate demonstration of love. John utilizes its example as the definition of biblical love when he writes, “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” (1Jn.3:16a). But John doesn’t leave it there, he drives home the call for us to do the same: “And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1Jn.3:16b).  While the world turns love into an exercise in self-gratification and sentimentality, may we as God’s people continue to love as Christ did – doing the hard work of giving ourselves for the benefit of others. That is biblical love.

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Know Your God

According to God’s word there is nothing more rewarding or more satisfying than using your mind to focus on your Creator. The Psalmist declares, “Blessed are they who seek him with all of their heart” (Ps.119:2).  Jesus affirmed that the greatest directive from the Old Testament was a supreme love for God that included “all of your mind” (Mt.22:37). When you take time to ponder the Triune God or when you seek to deepen your knowledge of the Almighty, you are engaging in the primary goal of your existence. The Bible tells us that everything about your lot in life is strategically designed to get you to do more of just that!  Acts 17 states that the time of your birth and the exact place in which you live are both sovereignly aimed at getting you to “seek God and reach out for him” (vv.26-27).  And that is not just a “pre-Christian” concern. There is so much more for us all to know about our transcendent God! Paul’s prayer for the Philippians was that these growing Christians would “abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” about their God. So today be sure to engage your mental faculties in the ever-deepening quest of knowing more about your God.

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Sickness and Sin

Clearly not every health crisis or sickness is a result of someone’s specific sin (cf. Jn.9:1-3; Job 1:1; et al.). On the other hand, sometimes they are. According to Hebrews 12, God’s protective and parental love is demonstrated in the “unpleasant” correctives he brings into our lives (Heb.12:11). Often God’s painful discipline comes in the form of sickness. The Psalmist said, “my back is filled with searing pain,” “there is no health in my body,” and “my bones have no soundness because of my sin” (Ps.38:3b, 7). David testified, as he carried around unconfessed sin, “my bones wasted away” because “day and night [God’s] hand was heavy upon me” and “my strength was sapped” (Ps.32:3-5). We would be wise at the outset of any physical ailment to introspectively ask God to bring to mind any unresolved patterns of sin that he may be wanting to draw to our attention. The Apostle James reminds us that when our sin is the cause of our physical pain, a sincere prayer of repentance is the first step to a full recovery (Jas.5:15).

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Jealousy of God

Jealousy is generally perceived as a human weakness. Few would want to be described as “the jealous type.”  Perhaps that’s why many choose to ignore the fact that our perfect God has revealed himself to be perfectly jealous. Consider Exodus 34 where we are told, “Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (v.14). While our human jealously is often unfounded, God’s never is. As our Maker and our Redeemer, we are doubly his. He rightly deserves our full attention, our ardent love, and our fiercest loyalty. When the One who loves us more than we can know sees us flirting with the seductive distractions of our culture, we should pause to consider that our God, who has purchased us for himself, is undoubtedly provoked to a righteous jealously. Therefore, in the words of the Apostle John, do all you can to “keep yourself from idols” (1Jn.5:21)

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Real Love

Having spent years walking through Israel with Jesus, having listened to him teach, and having seen him heal the sick and even raise the dead, the Apostle John distilled Christ’s love into this intriguing statement: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16a). Without reference to any warm feelings or emotions, John elevates the painful sacrifice of Christ’s execution as his defining act of love. While the connection of biblical love with Christ’s tortuous death may sound familiar to experienced churchgoers, I would argue the paradox is often missed in the minds of modern Christians. Maybe we can more readily see it when we read the rest of John’s sentence: “…and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16b). As we imagine the biblical call to love our fellow Christians, I suspect we envision the joy and camaraderie of spiritual brothers and sisters happily encouraging each other over a meal or after a prayer meeting. I don’t think we visualize the pain of death. Yet, our call to “love” each other is a call to sacrifice our comfort, our freedoms, or our advantages for the good and benefit of others. This “dying” to ourselves and our own agendas comes incrementally when we love in the manner of Christ. But don’t miss the fact that those painful sacrifices are the essence of Christlike love. So don’t hold back today. Go the extra mile, stay the extra hour, or spend the extra dollar for the edification of a brother or sister in Christ.

For more sermons and devotionals on Real Love, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Real Love

When we read the word “love” in the Bible we should always be careful to remind ourselves that it bears little resemblance to what passes for love in today’s world. When the people of our culture speak of “love” they are usually referring to something that impulsively springs from feelings of happiness, warmth, attraction, affection or pleasure. But the Bible uses the word to describe something very deliberate, usually without reference or thought to motives driven by good feelings. On the contrary, in the Bible depth of love is typically measured by the extent to which that love required sacrifice and planning. Consider the Bible’s ultimate description of love. It wasn’t generated by an impulsive attraction to the ones being loved. The Bible says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Elsewhere we are told that the “love” we are to have for others is based on this template of sacrificial love, which isn’t given because it “feels good,” but rather because it accomplishes good! “Bear with the failings of the weak” we are told, not seeking to “please ourselves,” but instead working to “please our neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself” (Romans 15:1-3). I realize this clarification may seem superfluous to those familiar with the Bible, but I find it is very easy to forget. So let us make sure to remember. And let’s all purpose and plan to love each other as he loved us (Ephesians 5:1-2; 1 John 4:11).

For more sermons and devotionals on Hard Truth, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org  

God's Justice

If God is not just, God is not good. If God does not respond justly to the unrighteous decisions of his creatures, then God cannot be holy, good or righteous. In the same way earthly judges cannot be good while perverting justice in their courtrooms, the perfect Judge cannot be perfect if he ignores sin. His perfect love does not negate, invalidate or nullify the perfection of his justice. Without justice there is an eternal imbalance, a nagging discrepancy, and a lack of divine equilibrium in the universe that cannot be disregarded. This reality is our predicament and the quandary of the human race. The gospel of course is the solution. But realize God’s love does not repeal God’s justice. Instead, God’s love provided a judicial solution. The whole point of Christ’s crucifixion was the exacting of rigorous justice motivated by extreme love. If love were enough to solve our problem and maintain divine perfection, there would have been no costly incarnation and no crushing crucifixion. But of course there was. The solution was extravagantly provided because God is love, and it was necessary because God is just.

Defending Truth

1 Peter 3:15 commands all Christians to stand up for the truth and defend the hope of the gospel. It also commands that this be done with “gentleness and respect.” Unfortunately, there is something about defending the truth that can quickly deteriorate into heated arguments, belittling statements, and insulting remarks. It shouldn’t. God expects his ambassadors to stay in control of their emotions and maintain a godly decorum that is worthy of our stately King. Christ’s victory is already settled. His triumphant return is not dependent on our frenzied quarrels. The truth is settled. Christ has already won. Our objective is to provide dignified and respectful corrections to those who call his truth into question. While our emotional disturbance is understandable when people malign our God, the Spirit’s goal in our speech is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). It may seem paradoxical, but we are called to fight for the truth gently and respectfully. So don’t get out there and attempt to defend Christ’s honor in a dishonorable way. Keep your cool, and let your defense be seasoned with the courtesy and dignity that befits God’s royal family.

Christmas Gifts

The relationship of Christmas with gift-giving may be bemoaned by many, but the connection is a biblical one. I am not referring to the crazed run through the mall in late December or the White Elephant gift exchange at the office party, but the concept of generously and freely giving gifts because God gave us his Son to redeem us; this is the association that cannot and should not be avoided. The Bible says that our love for each other, and thus our love for God can be measured, at least in part, by our generosity and the willingness with which we give tangible gifts to one another (see 1 John 3:16-17). Being the targets of God’s love necessarily implants a desire to be the kind of person who meets the needs of others. Knowing what it is to be loved by God is an experience that the Bible says should drive us to give as freely as we have received. A redeemed heart will find increasing satisfaction in reaching out, even at great personal cost, to enrich and enhance the lives of others through the giving of time, talent and resources. So while the world may be giving gifts for all the wrong reasons (and complaining about it a good part of the time) we can piggy-back on this “gift-giving season” and give to help, benefit and encourage as a reflection of Christ and for the glory of God.