"Let's Talk About Love" - Inspirational Weekend

This Christmas cactus was a gift from about 5 years ago from my son and daughter-in-law.  It blooms once every year about this time, although one year it bloomed twice, about a month apart.  The above photo was taken this week.

I "love" this plant !  I look forward to its salmon and white blossoms every year and take good care of it all year with fertilizing and pampering it, all the while anticipating what the results will be for all my efforts when it blooms again.   

People today use the word "love" loosely to apply to everything, it seems.   In English we only have one word for love, but in the ancient Greek some say there were 4 types of love, and still others say the Greeks recognized 6 varieties of love.  I will not go into detail about all 6 types, but I will mention them here.  

(1)  Eros,  or sexual passion; or romantic love.

(2) Philia, or deep friendship.  The Greeks valued this type of love far more than Eros.  Then there is  Storge,   which is another kind of Philia. and involves the love between parents and their children.

(3) Pragma,  or long standing love.  This mostly involves the deep understanding that develops between couples that have been married for many years.  

(4)  Philautia,   or self-love.  The Greeks recognized 2 types, one of which was an unhealthy narcissism, and the other which enhanced your ability to broaden your love to include others because you felt secure in yourself and cared for yourself and therefore had more love to give to others.

(5)  Ludus,  or playful love, as in children or young lovers.  It is seen in the flirting and teasing in the beginning stages of a relationship.

(6)  Agape,  unconditional love.   The love God and Jesus have for mankind, and the love that mankind (believers) have for the Lord.  And, of course, it is the love that Jesus has for His Father.

Most Christians have heard of these types of love, especially Philia and Agape.  Agape is the highest form of love, or charity, and we will focus primarily on Agape in this post.  Agape love never ends, no matter what the circumstances may be.  C.S. Lewis referred to it as "gift love."  Agape was later translated into Latin as "Caritas", from which we get our word "Charity", which, if you read the King James version of the Bible, is used extensively in 1 Corinthians 13:

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself,  is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  "    -  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

When a person is truly born again, He will have intense love for God and Jesus, especially when he recognizes what a sinner he is and that Jesus, in love, died on the cross so that by His shed blood we could be redeemed; washed white as snow in the blood of Jesus.  When we try to comprehend such an immense and sacrificial love, we are overcome with gratitude and love for all that our Savior has done for us.  For we are born again (John 3:3) and we are a new creation :

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:  old things are past away, behold, all things are become new."  -  2 Corinthians 5:17

Out of our love and gratitude to the Lord for all He has done on our behalf, we need to cultivate a strong, personal and intimate love relationship with Him by much prayer and Bible reading.  It is rather like I pamper and take care of my Christmas cactus all year long, to reap the benefits and joy when it blossoms in all of its beauty and magnificence.  A relationship with the Lord needs attention and cultivation in order to bring forth fruit and to grow and blossom into a beautiful association of love and trust and obedience, with the final joy and reward of being with the Lord for all of eternity.   Let us also "blossom" with a radiance that befits followers of Christ; a heart full of love and compassion and true agape love for our Creator.  Reflect often on His care and love for you; it will enable you to appreciate Him and to love Him even more.  Pray often; read your Bible daily, for in so doing you begin to know Jesus better and to know Him is to love Him and to thereby live your life accordingly - a life that is pleasing to the Lord. 

"He loved us not because we are lovable, but because He is love."  -  C.S. Lewis

"He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the Lover, but the love of the giver."  -  Thomas A. Kempis

"Faith makes all things possible.  Love makes all things easy."     -  Dwight L. Moody

For more of my posts about love, please go to the Search Box in the upper right hand area of this page and type in "Love" and several articles will appear.  So much could be written about love.  The main thing is to be sure that the love of God and of Jesus is deep within your heart.  If that is true of you, then you will be empowered to live a godly life, a life that bears much fruit, and you can then resist temptations easily.

Following is a wonderful sermon by Charles Spurgeon on "The Secret Of Loving God!"

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these."                                 Jesus at Mark 12:30-31

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."   -  John 14:23

"The Potter And The Clay; Have Thine Own Way, Lord" - Inspirational Weekend

For 3 or 4 days that hymn "Have Thine Own Way Lord" has been going through my mind often.  In the morning I listen to old hymns on You Tube before I begin my Bible reading and study every day, and that is one hymn I have listened to frequently.  Have you ever had a tune pop up in your mind and it won't let go?  I felt compelled to do a post here about letting God have His own way, as well as Bible verses about the Potter and the clay.   Let's begin with a 5 minute video (below) with quoted Scriptures while showing a potter molding and shaping a clay pot.  It is interesting and inspirational.

When I was a child, the artist/singer Jim Reeves was popular.  My mother, but especially my stepfather, liked Country Music which I had no choice but to listen to.   I grew to enjoy the songs by Jim Reeves.....there is something unique about his voice.   Following is his version of the hymn "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" ;

To let the Lord have His own way, we need to first know what His way - His Will - is for us individually as well as for the nations   Almighty God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nation of Israel and likened Himself to a Potter, with Israel being the clay.  You might like to read Jeremiah 18 and 19 for some background.   

"The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, (2) Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.  (3) Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.  (4) And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (5) Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, (6) O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD.  Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." - Jeremiah 18:1-6  

Jeremiah knew that not only did this refer to Israel, but to himself and to each individual as well....that we believers are going to be molded and shaped by our Heavenly Father, to conform to His will for us.  That means He wants us to be more Christ-like.  "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn amongst many brethren."  -  Romans 8:29. "For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps."  - 1 Peter 2:21  .   

"Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: For shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?  Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?"  -  Isaiah 29:15

Romans 9:20-21 tells us, "(20) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?  Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?  (21) Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"

Who are we puny humans to defy God?  To purposely disobey Him by being stubborn and self-willed?  God is the Sovereign of the universe and He is in control, not us.   It all boils down to surrendering all to God/Jesus and putting His will first in our lives.  There is a previous post here about how to surrender all to God .  The main thing is to simply obey Him in all matters, putting God's will first as I stated previously.  We learn to know His will by prayer and by reading His Holy Word.  The Lord shapes us and molds us so that He may use us in His service.  That especially includes witnessing about Jesus to lost souls.        1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God's will is to "have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."

God loves us just as we are right now, but because of His love He continuously molds and shapes us into "vessels of honor", so we can be filled with His Holy Spirit and live lives that bring Him glory and honor   This growth process is a continual, daily process of molding and changing us.  If we "mess up" take comfort in the knowledge that you are a child of God and He is disciplining you and forming you - patiently - into a godly and more Christ-like child.   

God will use other people to help mold you, and He will use His Word as well.  He is patient with you, and you need to realize His love in order to behave in a manner of gratitude, obedience,  reverence, and to love Him in return.    Surrender all to Jesus; be totally and wholeheartedly committed to Him and His will, and you will be blessed.

"One of the most arduous spiritual tasks is that of giving up control and allowing the Spirit of God to lead our lives."  -  Henri Nouwen

"We are either in the process of resisting God's truth, or in the process of being shaped and molded by His truth."  -  Charles Stanley  

Tommy Ice Video On The Gospel And Another Video Of 13 Reasons To Believe In The Pre-Tribulation Rapture - Inspirational Weekend

The above photograph of the Hawaiian Black-Crowned Night Heron I took on the island of  Kauai, Hawaii, near the beach.   Notice how alert he is and he seems to be surveying his surroundings with keen interest.    It reminds me that we, as Christians, need to be alert to the times we live in - meaning the last of the last days -  and watching for the  soon return of Jesus to take us home to heaven in the Rapture.   And not only to watch for it, but to be ready.  That means having a close personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus.   If you have such an intimate relationship, then you most likely are leading a godly life; a fruitful life.   

In my last post  I mentioned how sharing Bible prophecy was a wonderful evangelizing tool.   Yesterday, a video was posted to You-tube featuring Tommy Ice who talks about how vital the Gospel message is and in it he said that, along with the Gospel, Bible Prophecy is also excellent to use to evangelize.   He gave pertinent information about several things.   Following is that video :

Recently, I ran across an article by Tommy Ice concerning the Pre-Tribulation Rapture.  Many scholars believe that there was no evidence  (other than the Bible) of any kind about it before 1830,  but this article has a paragraph about the Pre-Trib Rapture being mentioned over a 1000 years before 1830 and which was dated somewhere between c. 374-627.  Please read the article found here .  It was fascinating to me, and to all of you who crave information about end time events, you will find it a good source.

Most Christians believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, myself included.   However, many believe that the Rapture will occur at the mid-way point of the Tribulation, and still others believe the Rapture happens at the end of the Tribulation period.   It is the Pre-Trib belief that gets the most attacks and is most hated.  To me, that just helps to prove that it is the accurate view.   The devil always attacks the fiercest at what is the truth.

If you know the Rapture of the church is near, you will live a more godly life and will be in more of a state of readiness for Jesus' return.  The main thing is to seek first God's kingdom  (Matthew 6:33).  Put God and Jesus first in your life.

I John 3:3 states,  "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

Following is a video which gives 13 reasons to believe the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation.

Both of the above videos are excellent "spiritual food" and I hope you take the time to view them; they are short but full of much needed information.  If you are not sure of your standing with God, now is the time to pray and ask for forgiveness in sincere repentance.  Pray for Jesus to come into your life; believe His shed blood at Calvary washes away your sins; surrender all to Him and make Him the Lord of your life.   Believers today are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

"In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."
- Ephesians 1:13

"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
- Ephesians 4:30

This seal guarantees our salvation.   It also means that, as believers, we have eternal life.  What an awesome gift!  We ought to be singing praises to God all day long for His great love and mercy !  And it should give us a humble and grateful heart.

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."   -   Jesus speaking at Luke 21:28 concerning the signs of the last days.

"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh."  - Jesus at Matthew 24:44.