What Is Love?

“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:15-16).

What is love? Ask ten people, you’ll get ten different answers. “It’s generic pleasure (I love my food).” “It’s an emotional feeling (I love my family).” “It’s an interpersonal attraction (I love my wife).”

Ask God, however, and you’ll get one answer: ME.

“If eyes are the windows to the soul,” God would say, “then look in mine and you’ll see love at the core of my being. If actions speak louder than words, then look at my Son and you’ll hear the shout of love. I am the beginning, the continuation, and the end of love. Always define love with me.”

Next to the word “love” in the dictionary of your mind should be a picture of God on the cross. Every time you think on love, flip to that page and start there. It will align your thoughts, actions and feelings with God’s. From there we will see love change our world.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

More Pain, Fewer Answers, Much Grace

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

I will drive to the township today to bury a child.

He was born six weeks ago. His proud mother brought him to our house last week. We took photos. I thumbed through them on my digital camera after I received the phone call yesterday telling me how the boy was sleeping one minute and bleeding from the nose the next. He seemed so healthy. He was chunky. Smiling. Eyes bright. He will be the second infant son I will bury from this same mother.

She’s asking the same questions you are probably asking right now. Why? What happened? There are no answers so far. Perhaps they will never come.

Each one of us know the pain. All of us have asked the questions. You. Me. Our hearts hurt when we hear her story, because we can relate. Tragedy spares no one. But neither does joy and peace and hope, when we trust in God.

Pray for this young mother today, I ask. But pray also for yourself – that you may learn to trust in God, even if the pain comes and the answers never do.

Is Your Work Worth Establishing? (Part 2)

Choose a number between 1 and 10.

Your attitude at work:
Lousy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Loving

Your integrity at work:
Appalling 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Admirable

Your time at work:
Pleasure-seeking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Productive

Your speech at work:
Critical 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Constructive

Your thoughts at work:
Selfish 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sacrificial

How’d you do? All 10′s?

I’d say if you’ve scored below 50 on any of these, then you need to question whether your work (what comes out of your heart and your hands) is really worth establishing.

God wants to establish the work of our hands. But not just any work – work that would bring him glory.

Is Your Work Worth Establishing? (Part 1)

Psalm 90:17 is a familiar request. I know I’ve prayed it many times before: “Establish the work of our hands.”

This prayer presupposes two things: Firstly, that our hands are busy. Secondly, that what they’re busy doing is worth being established.

Folks used to say, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” My hands are rarely idle. They busy themselves with hugs for my family. Sermons for my church. DIY for my house. The devil’s not setting up a work station with these hectic hands.

Most people’s hands are not inactive. But that doesn’t mean they’re effective. Effectiveness depends on the worthiness of their preoccupation.

When’s the last time you examined the worthiness of your preoccupations? If God did a quality-control check on your work, would you get a good review? Are you more preoccupied with yourself than with God and others?

Let’s assess your condition tomorrow.

Silver, Gold or Jesus?

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ (Hebrews 13:5-6)

The shekel was born in about 3000BC in Mesopotamia. Silver and gold coins appeared in Lydia only in 650 BC. Money was a man’s idea. It wasn’t created alongside of Eve. It wasn’t inspired by God. It was man’s from the beginning and is man’s today. It represents his strength. His security. His significance. His manliness.

Perhaps you’ve felt the power of money yourself. That feeling is normally expressed in a thought that begins, “If only we had a little more money, we could…” You could what? Be stronger? More secure? More significant? More like mankind?

There’s a reason God told us to live free of the love of money. It’s not because he’s a money-hater. It’s because he’s a people-lover and he’s a jealous God. Jealous for your love. Jealous to be your strength. Jealous to be your security. Jealous to be your significance.

Have you ever seen a Mesopotamian shekel? Probably not. It disappeared a few thousand years ago. But you’ve probably seen the work of God in your life. You’ve probably felt his hands holding you up in your vulnerable moments. You’ve probably heard him whisper “I love you” through a friend or through the Scriptures or even audibly.

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you,” Peter said to the lame man in Acts 3:6. And then he raised him to his feet and gave him Jesus.

Take out the coins from your pockets. Gaze at them for a long time and then ask yourself, “What would I rather have? What do I really need more of?”

A Chip Off The Old Block

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:43-45).

I’m a chip off the old block. I look like my dad. Think like my dad. I even clear my throat like my dad. When the nurse put me in my mother’s arms for the first time, my mom laughed. She looked at my face and saw a mini version of my dad. It was uncanny.

You know, it makes a dad proud to have a son just like him. I can see it in my dad’s eyes when we talk about our similarities. I can feel it my heart when my own son reminds me of me. And I see it in today’s verse.

Before you were a son of God, you were an enemy of his. Such is his love that it can make children out of enemies. And it’s that kind of love that makes us most resemble our Father. How do you treat your enemies? How much do you look like your Father?

May it always be said of you and me, “Like Father, like son.”

Turtle Wins

“Every one, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees.” – John Wesley

Rabbit didn’t win the race. Remember? Turtle did.

It wasn’t a flashy victory, to be sure. Some might have watched unimpressed.

“Not too exciting,” said Fox, perhaps. “Turtle doesn’t get much action.”
“Not very adventurous,” said Squirrel. “Turtle doesn’t even leave the ground.”
“Not real inspiring,” said Bear. “Turtle doesn’t seem to be accomplishing very much.”

But he won. To judge the race in the middle is foolishness. Look at the finish line and then make your assessment.

Exciting, adventurous, inspiring. Those adjectives don’t always describe my race, and probably not yours either. But there is a noun that does. Victory. It was yours in an instant at the beginning. And it’s yours forever at the end. Don’t worry about the slow degrees in between – Turtle wins.

Proceed To Further Delights With Jesus

You will not be able to help yourself when you see Jesus face to face – your knee will bow and your tongue will confess that He is the Lord. The Bible tells us that will be the case for every person who has ever existed.

And as that worship bursts from your soul every minute, hour and day of your forever existence, God will say to himself, “Wow! That makes me so happy. That brings me such glory. The journey was worth it.”

Then Jesus will look at you and say, “Well done. Thanks for walking this journey with me.” He’ll reach his hand out to yours. You’ll see the scar. You’ll remember everything he did for you. You’ll take his hand. And he’ll say, “Come, let’s keep walking. I’ve got so much more to show you.”

“The Sands of Time Are Sinking”
Anne R. Cousin, 1857

The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of heaven breaks,
The summer morn I’ve sighed for, the fair sweet morn awakes;
Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel’s land.

The king there in his beauty without a veil is seen;
It were a well-spent journey though sev’n deaths lay between:
The Lamb with his fair army doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel’s land.

O Christ, he is the fountain, the deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted, more deep I’ll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness his mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel’s land.

The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace
Not at the crown he giveth, but on his pierced hand:
The lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel’s land.

Proceed To Further Delights Forever!

Not only is Jesus eternal, but each one of his attributes is unsearchable.

Isaiah 40:28 says, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable” (NKJ, emphasis added).

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33, emphasis added).

“Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ …” (Ephesians 3:8, emphasis added).

This means that on the day you arrive in heaven, you can say, “Jesus, show me the depths of your love.” As Jesus unveils his love the first day, you’ll exclaim, “Wow Jesus! I never knew this about your love!” The next day you’ll say, “Wow Jesus! I never knew that about your love!” And for a billion years Jesus will reveal his love to you in a deeper and more profound way every day.

And that’s just his love; wait until you tap into his grace, mercy, peace, joy, truth, holiness, wisdom, power, glory and beauty. You will not want to stop exploring; it will get better and bigger and better and bigger every day. That’s why heaven, contrary to uninformed belief, will not be boring. Because you will constantly be discovering God and delighting in him.

Proceed To Further Delights

Charles Spurgeon once preached:

“O brethren. I am sure your only happiness that has been worth the having has been found in knowing that he loved you and was near you … when you have rejoiced in Jesus you have heard a voice bidding you ‘Proceed to further delights.’ That voice has cried, ‘Drink offerings! Yea! Drink abundantly O beloved.’ For to be inebriated with such joy as this is to come to the best condition of mind and to fix the soul where it should be. We are never right ‘til we come out of ourselves and into Jesus. And when the ecstatic state comes and we stand right out of self and stand in him so that whether in the body or out of the body we can scarcely tell then are we getting back to where God meant man to have been when he walked with him in Eden … Brethren, what must the unveiled vision be, if the sight of him here be so sweet, what must it be to see him hereafter?”