I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. . . Philippians 1:9 Here is the thing about love. You cant sit around and wait for the feeling of love. Dont wait to feel love. Just start doing loving things. In 1 Corinthians 13 when Paul gave the classic definition of love, he didnt talk so much about what love is as much as he talked about what love does: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged (verses 4–5). Some people keep a record of everything. Theyll say, I remember when you said that hurtful thing twenty years ago. Really? Yes, I do. You know what? They need to let that go. Its time for them to forgive. One of the things Paul prayed for the Philippian believers was that their love would continue to grow. He wrote, I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding (verse 9). Paul wasnt talking about a sentimental love here. Rather, this is a love based on a knowledge of Gods Word. Jesus said, Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples (John 13:35). And John reminds us, If someone says, I love God, but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we dont love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? (1 John 4:20). So dont talk about how much you love God if you hate someone else. That is not acceptable. If you are a true follower of Jesus, then your life will be characterized by love. . . Greg Laurie; Harvest Daily Devotion ---------- There is a device, often called the ultimate listening device, that sits looking like a gigantic radar antenna, atop a bleak, ice-covered hill near the North Pole. Twenty-four hours each day, 365 days each year, it sends out signals that travel deep into outer space ~ farther than any messages have ever gone. The mission? To see if anybody is out there listening. Out the signals go, while scientists wait quietly for any response. For 2,000 years Christians have been involved in a similar mission. Day after day prayers travel outward and upward, and the One who does see and does listen has honored those prayers. Today, more than twenty centuries after Christ walked this planet, there are more persons who call him Lord than ever before. Fellowship and prayer. The horizontal and the vertical. Whenever both are present in the life of any church miracles are likely to occur. Where one or the other are absent, there is a poverty of authentic joy and power. Make fellowship and prayer an important part of your journey in Christian faith. . . Lyle Pohly
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 03:29:09 +0000
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