Let Love Master One's Emotion

Prologue

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

                love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 

                Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who 

                loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

DO YOU WANT TO END THE CONTINUALLY RECURRENT NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION?

Let love, i.e., selfless love, motivates all other emotions. To be sure, it's the greatest and strongest emotion. Mastering all other feelings through love leads to good and positive behavior or action that wonderfully influences all other things - people, conditions or surroundings. Through love one can have the best of life; approved by men and God, too.

Like Jesus, A Man of God
With the Spirit Can Show
Great Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-8 NIV

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Epilogue

                  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not
                  without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the
                  grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV

God the Father and Son have shown how to love. Both loved us first even when we were in sin. Jesus has come in the flesh to model the loving ways of the Father.

But can  any man really love his or her fellowmen as God has?

Indeed, yes! Joined with Christ and empowered by the Spirit within, man can love God and everyone.

To be sure, love is the seal that authenticates a converted man.

Related Article:
Let Us Keep to the Point

Much Knowledge Causes Many Fears

Prologue

                    For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
                    the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV

Knowing something comes with IMAGININGS of other unknown things that cause anxiety, even fear. Worse. one can imagine dark forebodings and irrationally act, which in the end prove to be more troublesome as they give birth to more apprehensions on top of the other.

Peace or quiet in all circumstances specially during uncertain times doesn't come easily with much thinking and reliance on one's strength.

On the other hand, knowing God is looking out for you will put your heart at ease. Trusting His ever-present help gives much robust hope and calmness of spirit.

God Tells No One Has Control
Of Tomorrow But Him 

Matthew 6:25-34 NIV

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The Metaphor of Conversion

Prologue 

You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. Genesis 17:11

No, A PERSON IS A JEW [true Israelite or saint] WHO IS ONE INWARDLY; and CIRCUMCISION IS CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART, by the SPIRIT, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. Romans 2:29

           

The biblical circumcision is the metaphor of conversion. The literal conversion is a change of heart and turning toward God, WHICH IS THE ESSENCE OF THE NEW COVENANT.

Abraham a Type of the Father
Makes a Covenant with His People

Genesis 17:1-14 NIV

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

God the Father Tells His People
He Will Convert Them Completely

Ezekiel 36:22-32

“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name,which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

           I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you

           your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you
           and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
       

Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!

N. B. All scripture taken from New International Version.

False Anchors

Prologue

Social status. Power. Great wealth and accomplishments. Honors and popularity. High position in business or work or government, etc. All sums up what many are aspiring for a great life.

They are great and good things to have. But they are false anchors though to have happiness. Unreliable, to say the least. In the end they can only bring disappointments or regrets, a feeling of emptiness and the wish to live longer, which is impossible.

Solomon has Wisdom, Wealth,
Power and Great Accomplishments
But Finds them Meaningless
Eventually

Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11 NIV

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

God Tells a Rich Man
He Owns All that He Has
Even His Very Life

Luke 12:13-21 NIV

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Faithlessness Causes Worry

Prologue

                    Has a nation ever changed its gods?
                    (Yet they are not gods at all.)
                    But my people have exchanged their glorious God
                    for worthless idols. Jeremiah 2:11 NIV

One who has no God but himself carries many burdens in life. Others, who have more than one God of those created, they too will be much troubled ABOUT ALMOST EVERYTHING.

The Israelites Worry About Meat

Exodus 16:1-10 NIV

The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

Paul Exhorts Israelites
To Keep their Faith

Philippians 2:12-18 NIV

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—CONTINUE TO WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

DO EVERYTHING WITHOUT GRUMBLING OR ARGUING, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

One God Rules True Israelites

Continuous Conversion

Taken on the whole from:

My Utmost For His Highest

By RBC Ministries


. . . unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven —Matthew 18:3

These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God through His sovereignty brings us into new situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Spirit of God. Just because we have responded properly in the past is no guarantee that we will do so again. The response of the natural to the spiritual should be continuous conversion, but this is where we so often refuse to be obedient. No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must “put on the new man . . .” (Ephesians 4:24). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to convert ourselves, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us.

To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.” We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.

To read the original article CLICK HERE.

Faithful to Christ's Teachings

Deserter or Disciple?

Taken on the whole from:
My Utmost For His Highest
By RBC Ministries

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more —John 6:66

When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t “walk in the light” of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, “Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?” You have to “walk in the light” of the vision that has been given toyou. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the “heavenly vision,” do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— “. . . for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.

Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.

To read original article CLICK HERE.