The Love Chapter: Benifiting Others

As we look at the words Paul uses to describe the love chapter, most words falls into two groups; serving others, or denying yourself.

Love is…..

Patient: To endure boredom or the annoyance of others

Kind: Always ready to help others

Doesn't envy: Doesn’t want what others have

Isn’t Boastful: Doesn’t brag about oneself

Isn’t Proud: Doesn’t think too highly of oneself

Isn’t Rude: shows respect for others

Isn’t self-seeking: the desire to benefit oneself

Isn’t easily angered: doesn’t become furies with others

Keeps no record of wrongs: Doesn’t keep track of wrongs others have committed.

Always Protects: to guard others

Trusts: A strong belief that some person is honest or can be depended on

Love is, in short, the desire/act of benefit others, even at personal cost.

1 Corinthians 13: definition of adjectives

I like most of us are familiar with the Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13). We’re going to look at this passage, but from a new perspective. I love looking up the definitions of words. For every adjective in the sections, I looked up the definition of that word. When I did it, I really enjoyed it. It brings the text to life in a whole new way.

Love is patient
• Able to put up with pain, trouble, delay or foredoom without complaining.

Love is kind.
• Always ready to help others and do good; friendly, gentle, generous, or sympathetic. To show kindness.
-The condition or habit of being kind.

It does not envy
• A feeling of jealousy or dislike toward someone who has what one would like to have.

it does not boast
• To talk about oneself or accomplishments with too much pride and pleasure; to brag.

it is not proud
• Thinking too highly of oneself; conceited or haughty. To be self forced.

5It is not rude
• Without respect for others; not polite. Rough or crude.

it is not self-seeking
• To find or search for something valuable to claim for one’s self.

it is not easily angered
• To be upset or to lose one’s temper.

it keeps no record of wrongs

6Love does not delight in evil
• Does not give great pleasure or rejoice or become joyful in wrong or shameful acts.

but rejoices with the truth.
• To be glad or be delighted of what is fact or has the quality of being true, honest and real. What is true; the facts.

7It always
• At all times; at every moment. Forever.

Protects
• To guard or defend against harm or danger; to shield.

always trusts,
• A strong belief that some person or think is honest or can be depended on.


always hopes,
• A felling or strong belief that what is wanted will happened.

always perseveres.
• maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.

8Love never fails
• At no time, under no conditions does not do what one tries to do; not succeed. To lose.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Jesus’ life: Miracles

Jesus was always healing people; the lame, the sick, the blind, the mute, etc. Every miracle was an act of love; he was serving someone else.

In that day, the teachers (Rabbi) had to be clean. There was a list of requirements that a teacher must do to remain clean; ceremonial washing, not touching dead animals, etc. One of the requirements was you couldn’t touch a dead or ill person. If you did, you had to go through this time-consuming ceremonial washing.

When the widow’s only son had died, Jesus had compassion on her. She now had no one to provide for her.

At the funeral, Jesus came forward, touched the boy, and healed him.

Jesus touched him. Jesus knew he’d have to do ceremonial washing, but he did it anyway. He put the needs of the widow and her son before his own.

I think Jesus had to go through the ceremony washing a lot, because he was always touching and healing sick people.

Jesus demonstrated love by putting other’s needs before his needs.

Jesus' life: The cross

Jesus is love. He doesn’t have love; He is love. You cannot separate the two. If you have Jesus, you have love. If you have love, you have Jesus. Jesus can’t run out of love; it’s a part of His identity. Jesus is love. Jesus life is a perfect example because He didn’t just have love; He was love.

Let’s look at Jesus and His life on Earth. The reason he came was to die for us and to save us. He chose to leave heaven, live like a human for 30 some years, and then die a cruel death.

What did the cross do for Jesus? Nothing. It brought Him only pain. He sacrifice and lost everything He had.

What did the cross do for us? Everything. It gave us life and saved us.

Jesus didn’t put himself first, but He always put other first. If He’d been thinking of Himself and His own well being, He would have stayed in Heaven. But He didn’t. He chose to put others and their needs before His own.

Love is putting others’ needs before your own.

Love is the source

When God told me to study love, I had to ask; why love? What about hope, or joy, or passion, or patience, or kindness, or boldness? Why love? Why is love such a big deal? Why is it more important than prophecy, or speaking in tongues, or faith, or hope? Those things are important. Why aren’t these mentioned? Why is love such a big deal?

Here’s why: If you don’t have love, you can’t have those other gifts. If you can’t love, you can’t be kind. If you don’t have love, you can’t have faith, or hope. But if you have love, these things will be added; they will just bubble over without you thinking at it. If you love God, you’ll trust Him. If you love His people, you will want to put them first and serve them. It all comes from love. Love is the tree; everything else is the fruit.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
–1 Corinthians 13:1-4

On Sunday, we’ll start looking at Jesus’ life and how He lived out love.

God commands it

Before we go any further, there is something that must be made clear; why? Why should we love? Why should we sacrifice what we own for others? If you’re going to go through all that work, shouldn’t you know why? Without a reason, it is very easy to get discouraged.

First reason: God commands it.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you”—John 15: 12

“This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another”—1 John 3:11

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.”—1 John 2:9-10

“Jesus replied: ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘love your neighbor as yourself’”—Matthew 22:37-39

Short. Sweet. Simple.

We’ll look at another reason why we should love on Friday.

True Love: Introduction

What is love? This is a question that I think everyone has asked at one time or another. What do our parents mean when they say “I love you”? Or when our friends say it?

In our culture, the word love is used a lot and its definition isn’t very clear: I love my family, I love those clothes, I love pizza, and I love God, etc. As you can see, the word love can easily be over used.

When I’m talking about love, I’m not referring to that warm feeling you get when you see some hot guy or girl. I’m not talking about the chick-flick “He’s so cute!” kind of love.

I’m talking about real love, the love that takes work and effort, the kind where you don’t feel like it, but you do it anyway.

This is the love we see in God and His son. The love that nailed Jesus to the cross and would make you lay down your life save someone else. I’m talking about self sacrificing, self denying, serving others, God filled love.

Intense, right? Whenever I refer to the word ‘love’, I will be referring to this kind of love; True Love.

Warning! True love takes time, work, money and resources. Living out true love is exhausting. If you aren’t willing to sacrifice and don’t want to change, then don’t continue. However, if you are willing to sacrifice and want learn more about the love that changed the world and will change your life, you’ve come to the right place.

Counterfeits

How can we recognize evil in the world today? If everyone is trying to look good and right, how can we tell the differences? How can we identify what is a counterfeit, and what is genuine?

Know the original.

Bankers aren’t shown counterfeits; they work with really money. It would be nearly impossible to learn all the counterfeit money. There are always new ways and new tricks of making the money look more realistic; there is simply no way one could keep up with the twisted lies. The original, however, will never change.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He won’t change. If you know Him and His voice, you will recognize any counterfeit that comes you way. When you know the voice of Jesus, you will identify when someone who try to imitate it.

Christians vs. Atheists

Atheists are always being offended by Christians because Christians believe in God. Atheists say there’s no God and can’t stand it when Christians say there is. Atheists don’t like “In God we Trust” or “One nation under God” or ending a prayer in Jesus’ name because it offends them.

As Brad Stien put it: "Which is more reasonable: A man believing in a God he can’t see, or a man who’s offended by a God he doesn’t believe in?"

Just you

What can you give God? What is something you have that He doesn’t? You can’t give Him stuff; He created everything. He can make whatever He wants. You can’t give Him money; He owns that too. We can’t work hard enough; He can do it Himself. So what can we give Him?

You can give Him yourself. He wants you.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father waited for the son’s return. He watched for his son, waiting hopefully. When the son returned, the father was overjoyed and joyfully welcomed the son back home.

God is always overjoyed when He has us. He rejoices when He has you. He just wants you. When the prodigal son returned, he didn’t have any money, or cloths, or anything of value. The father didn’t care; all he wanted was his son.

God doesn’t want your money or your stuff; He just wants you. You are His child, and He is longing to be with you. He doesn’t care if you don’t have anything else to give Him, or if you’re dirty; He just wants you.

How He Loves Us!

Coming Soon: True Love

What is the opposite of love? The answer may surprise you: selfishness and self-seeking. Why?

This question along with many others will be answered in the new blog study True Love. In this study, we will answered the questions of What is love? Why should we love? How to love? by looking at Jesus’ life and His wonderful word.

I hope you can join us on this incredible journey.

This study will start on November 9th at Living Water devotional blog www.well-of-life.blogspot.com

Have a blog? Want to spread the word? If so, copy the text and picture above and post it on your blog.

psalms

Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;


-Psalms 32:1-2 & 37: 3-7

God Doesn’t Want to Bless You

I was hoping that title would catch your attention.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that God is withholding blessings or is out to get us. I’m saying I think the mindset of ‘God Bless You’ is wrong.

First, we are treating God like a vending machine. “If we pray long and hard enough, if we read enough of the Bible, if we fast, then God owes me and I deserve to be blessed.” This isn’t true. We can’t control or manipulate God. He’s plans and His will is greater than we can understand.

Second, we want to be in control of our lives. We don’t let God tell us what to do. We want to approve God’s will in our lives. We’ll let God drive, as long as we navigate.

Do you often find yourself asking God to bless a project, but never asked Him if you should have started it?

We’re not His second in command. We’re His servants. We need to submit our lives to Him. Let Him write the story of your live. Then, you will truly see the blessings of God.

Move!

Do you want to see God move in your life, your friend's life, your family, etc.? Then you have to move. God can’t move through you unless you are willing to move. If you want change the world, you're going to need to get off your tail and go out there and do something. You need to move!

Two Wolves

Once, a pastor went to an Indian tribe to share the gospel of Christ. After a few months, the whole tribe accepted the gospel with great joy and passion.

One day, the pastor came to the home of the chief.

“Ever since we have followed Christ,” the chief told the pastor. “I feel a battle going on inside me. It’s like there are two wolfs fighting within me. The first, the white one, is the new truth of Christ. The other, the black one, is the old beliefs and our old wrong ways. They are fighting within me.”

“Which one wins?” the pastor asked. The chief smiled.

“The one I feed the most,” he answered.

Circumstances and Chocies

I heard this quote from Church:

"10% of life is what happens to us. 90% of life is the choices we make."

Don't let your circumstances control your life. We can do all things in Christ.

Resurrection video

Keep Marching, part 02

It’s between the battles when everything seems boring and pointless. We can lose sight of the big picture, and we can get discouraged. That’s when the enemy tries to tear us down. So many times we do give up. Nothing is happening. No battles, no victories, no trilling missions. It seems like God has forget us.

What do you do? How do you stay the course?

Keep doing what you know God has asked you do you. What was the last thing He said to you? What was the last order? Has He told you to stop doing it? If He hasn’t told you to stop, keep doing it!

Just like soldiers may have to march for miles or keep cooking day in day out, we need to be diligent in what God had asked us to do. He wouldn’t give us a new order until we finish the 1st. Why give us new missions if we didn’t finish the 1st ?

Sometimes we don’t understand why we need to do the same thing over and over again. We don’t need to know. He is in control, not us. He is the Author of our story, the director, and the painter. He knows the whole plan, the big picture. We are a small part in the greater plan. When He’s ready for us to change course, He’ll let us know. We need to be ready and prepared when He does.

Between battles, a lot of preparation happens. During the “dry and dull” times, prepare yourself so you can be ready when He needs you. You can jump to arms and fight whenever He calls.

He is the commander, we are mere soldiers. We are His servants. We have not our own masters: He is. We must submit our lives to Him: our bodies, our minds, our souls, who we are, are His. He owns us. Continue the path He has set before you.

Keep Marching, part 01

So many times in the war against Satan, we love the thrill of serving, we love to see God’s hand move, watch the enemy beaten back, watch the Holy Spirit move in the lives of so many people. We love that. We long for that.

In any war, it is more than just battles. The soldiers are not always on the front lines. After each battle, they still need to tear down camp, clean their weapons, cook supper, march to wherever the next battle is, set up camp, etc. This is very boring, but still necessary. If a soldier doesn’t clean his weapon or cook for himself, his weapon wouldn’t be affective and he’ll be weak for the next battle.

It’s between the battles when everything seems boring and pointless. We can lose sight of the big picture, and we can get discouraged. That’s when the enemy tries to tear us down.

“If this is pointless, why are you doing it?” he says. He tries to make us lose hope, to give up, to quit. So many times we do give up. Nothing is happening. No battles, no victories, no trilling missions. It seems like God has forget us.

What do you do? How do you stay the course?

Nephews: Double Blessing

This week, both my sister and sister-in-law had their babies. I had nephews born this week.

On Wednesday the 23rd, 2009, my brother Nathan and his wife Valerie had their first son. He weighted 9 lb and 6 oz. He's name is Isaac Matthew Brasby.





On Money the 28th, my sister Melissa and her husband Jason had their 2nd child. He weighted 9 lb and 9 oz. His older sister Mandy is very happy to have a younger brother. His name is Ian Jon Galloway.



It's been a very exciting week full of babies and blessings.

The best is worth waiting for

I have a word to the young women of today. In today’s world of media, we are all blasted with the same message about sex; it’s okay to have sex. Just have fun! If you truly love him, you’ll sleep with him.

This statement is not true. This is a lie from Satan; he wants you to feel pain and regret. He wants you to be broken and confused. He comes to steal, kill and destroy.

Jesus’ has a plan for you and your husband.

I am waiting for my husband. I am saving myself for him. I know he will be a man of honor and truth. He will be a man of his word, and I can give him no less. I don’t want to go on my wedding day with regrets. I don’t want to have to look him in the eye and say,
“I gave myself away. I didn’t wait for you; you weren’t worth waiting for.”

Life is short, and I don’t want to live regretting the choices I’ve made. I don’t want a broken heart to fix.

I will wait for my husband because I know the best is worth waiting for.

The wolf

In Alaska/Canada, they used to hunt wolves. They found a method that worked every time and was very easy to set up.

The hunter would take a knife or razor blade with frozen blood on it. He would take the blade, set it firmly in the ground and leave. The wolf comes to the blade because he can smells the blood. He then starts licking the knife trying to get the blood off. As he is licking the blade, the ice numbs the wolf’s tongue; he can’t feel anything.

As the wolf licks the blood off, the blade cuts the wolf’s tongue, but since his tongue is numb, he can’t feel the cut. He tastes blood from the cut, and keeps licking, trying to get more blood from the knife. The knife continues to cut him and he keeps licking off the blood. Finally, he bleeds to death.

This story is a picture of sin.

At first, sin seems harmless.

“Just try a bit. Just test it. One try wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
So you try it; you taste it, and it tastes good. You try it again, and it still tastes good. So you do it again and again, not knowing that it is numbing it. You are numb to your guilt, God’s voice, and better judgment. You become so numb you don’t even realize the sin is hurting it. Slowly, it sucks the life from you, so slowly you don’t realize it is happening. You get use to it, as if it was normal. Slowly, the sin kills you.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:23 (NIV)

God's Promises

God is a God who keeps His promises. When He says something, what He says will come true. We can trust Him 100%.

Too many times, we put human limitations on God; humans break their promise, they lie, or sometimes they did everything in their power, but something outside of their control prevented them.

However, God is in control of everything. When He says, “I will move in your life. I will give you the desires of your heart if you obey my commands.” He means it, and it will come true.
When He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” we don’t need to worry about being alone; He is right there with us, even if it don’t feel like it. God’s word is always true.

Don’t let go of the promises God has given you. I know sometimes you can’t see anyway that His promise will come ever happen; don’t give up. Hang on. It’s easy to trust God in the sunlight and when everything is going well. It’s harder to trust His word when everything seems to be falling apart around us.

2 Corinthians 1:18-20

The Sower

The Parable of the Sower is one of the well known parables told by Jesus. Too many times, we read this passage and say to ourselves, “Jesus is just talking about salvation. I know I am saved, so I must be the good soil.”

I don’t think this parable is talking only about salvation. It’s talking about the Word of God. God’s word is ever being spoken in our lives; it is always around us, hovering over us, speaking to us. God speaks to us every day in so many different ways; the Bible, prayer, His voice in our heart, His creation, other believers, etc. The question is, what will you do with the word given to you?

If our hearts are like the four different soils, how we receive the word will depend on the condition of our heart. We can go to church, youth group, read the Bible, but if we don’t let the word grow in our lives, it’s like throwing seed on rocks. We must be sure our hearts are soft so we can receive the word. We must have a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering, produce a crop.

Preserve. I know following Jesus can be so hard sometimes, and we want to quit. Be diligent; diligence isn’t just taking shelter until the storm passes, but also pressing forward when things are hard.