Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: peter

My Love – 7 – Love never ends…

1 Corinthians 13

The Way of Love (agape)

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends.

Once again, the ‘love‘ we proclaim though scripture from this letter of Paul to the church at Corinth is the agape love of God. Christ’s love and perfect earthly example should permeate every kind of love relationship we have with others, including of course, the love of a husband for his wife and a wife for her husband.

You can never love too much.

You can love in the wrong way,

but never too much.

Suppose we take the famous scripture of the ‘love chapter’ and put it into the context of ‘The Four Loves’ described by C.S. Lewis of the four Greek words for love. And let’s take this a step further for a moment and begin with the way the world first thinks when the word love is mentioned:

Eros bears all things, Eros believes all things, Eros hopes all things, Eros endures all things. Eros love never ends.

Is this true?

I can testify by my own divorces that eros love (romantic love) often bears little, believes only at first, hopes less and less and indeed Eros love does end. This, of course, is why our vows before God are so important to our Christian marriages.

The same could be said of friendship love or affectionate love. Friendships certainly end and so all-too-often does the affectionate love of a parent for a child or child for parent. These tragic endings fill counseling offices and psychiatrist couches.

Love frequently does end; the other loves fail.

Therefore I caution us that we can indeed love in the wrong way. We often do not, as sinful and unfaithful human souls, look at love from the perspective of God.

We think that we have only so much love we can give – only so much friendship we can give – only so much love for one child or for our mom or for our dad to give – only so much we can endure and hope and believe for the love of our life, the wife or husband of our vows. After all, ‘we are only human.’ We are limited in the flesh; we are limited in our love for one another.

All this would be true, except for the one love for which we were created by God – agape love, which permeates our very being and relationships to every other.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind. (Sound familiar?)

Other loves only become timeless in the overflowing love of Jesus Christ when the deep well of God’s love pours forth from our sinful hearts into the love-starved souls of others.

We are made for Him and we are made for each other. We are created to love each and all; but only in the right way and with the love of God pouring from us.

When we are empty, God will give us more.

When we have given all, God will give us more.

When we cannot bear this soul, God will give us more.

When we can no longer believe, God will give us more.

When we have lost all hope, God will give us more.

When we cannot endure, God will give us more.

When we think our Eros romance

or our Philia friendship

or our Storge affection

will end;

God will give us more.

For Agape love is not only unconditional,

the Agape love of God is eternal.

Agape love never ends.

The King James English actually encourages us in God by assuring:

Charity never faileth.

And the NASB & other versions translate agape: Love never fails.

Yes, Paul points out that other signs of God working in the lives of the church may fail at times. (We are just a gathering of His imperfect sinners.)

God gives us His gifts to use in His way in our mortal time.

Pour forth the unfailing love of Christ Jesus. Embrace every soul in His love.

(Love one another, as I have loved you, our Lord commands.)

The love of the church may be evident through varying gifts to different saints (Christians) as different times. Yet Love never fails. God’s own love and charity towards us never fails His purpose.

It is appropriate reminder to us as I conclude this 7-part series on My Love, to remind us of the love of God for me, a sinner, and for you.

God has not failed us.

The Cross of Christ Jesus never fails.

We are saved by the grace of the sacrifice of our Lord, Christ Jesus.

As we near the end of these last days I appeal once more to your faithfulness to the Lord Who IS faithful to those who love Him. Be faithful to God in every kind of love God so richly gives to you from the deep spring of His eternal love.

Have you failed in your love? Have you failed God? Have you failed your beloved to whom you are wed? Have you failed a friend? Have you failed a parent or a child who needs your unconditional love?

ekpiptō – to fall out of, to fall down from, to fall off; to fall from a thing, to lose it; to perish, to fall: from a place from which one cannot keep, from a position, to fall powerless, to fall to the ground, be without effect of the divine promise of salvation

In Christ Jesus, we have God’s unfailing love. By grace we cannot fall. God’s love never fails.

Peter reminds the faithful of the importance of us not failing Christ Jesus, if indeed He IS our LORD.

2 Peter 3: NKJV

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand,

beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

February 23, 2015
Prayer Warrior?

NO! I am no prayer warrior. So what did I do? I doubled the size of my prayer list.

I identify with Simon Peter.

… he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” – Luke 5:8b

I understand the great remorse and unworthiness expressed by Saul of Tarsus found in Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth:

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1 Corinthians 15:9

He is the same Apostle who instructs the church at Thessaloniki: 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. – 1 Th 5

and

25 Brothers, pray for us.

No. I am no ‘prayer warrior.’ Look at my life and see how ineffective my many fervent prayers have been in the lives of those I love most, even in my own family, even in our marriage bed. God’s great silence seems more than, ‘Not yet.’ Job’s call of ‘answer me’ seems unheeded in my life. Though I await the storm clouds billowing and the Voice of Righteousness to ask me, ‘Who are you to ask this prayer of me again and again and again?!’ – though I cower beneath the broom tree and hide in the press of life’s defeats, I pray. I pray for these and I pray for me.

And I will pray for you.

Just ‘Comment‘ and ask.

(I read & moderate all Comments. If you prefer not to post publicly, just begin your comment & prayer request, ‘Private.’ )

– Roger Harned, author & site administrator

To be continued…

January 28, 2015
Woe!

Micah 7: 5 Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms

8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.

He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

Matthew 10

32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 11:17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

Woe to this generation as well! For our sin and neglect of the Lord’s household, the family of Christ Jesus, stand in witness against the Blood of the Cross. We betray the Betrothed to whom we have given our vows and solemn promise.

Do NOT condone divorce, but call the adulteress to repent and sin no more.

Division Among the People

John 7: 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?

+

Why are our faithless families, our faithless children, our faithless spouses not drawn to repentance? Why does the prodigal not desire to return to the Father’s house?

It is because the Father’s love and Christ’s redemption do NOT overflow from the hesitant hearts of the church.

Do not shun the faithful, but the faithless.

Acts:4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

+

ALL, not ‘some,’ were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Those who believed were of ‘one heart and soul.’ The Church was not divided in witness: some for Christ, yet others against by their witness.

Believers were of one heart, filled with the spirit, filled to overflowing with the love of Christ Jesus. This is the witness of Christ to the world: that Christ Jesus is love, that Christians have the love of Christ for each other, even for those not of the church.

WE, the church, are (or should be) the new and redeemed family of God.

A New Commandment

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

+

Are you, beloved of Christ, a disciple desiring to follow the commandment of the One you claim as ‘Lord?’

Woe! to the church. Woe! to those who witness by divorce against the Bridegroom of faithfulness. Woe! to this generation of hardened hearts, who have forgotten the love of our Lord for his family.

Woe! to those who claim the worship of cheap grace and the discordant noise of emotion from hearts easily deceived and broken but for a moment.

2 Peter 1

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

… make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,

and virtue with knowledge,

6 and knowledge with self-control,

and self-control with steadfastness,

and steadfastness with godliness,

7 and godliness with brotherly affection,

and brotherly affection with love.

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing,

they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

+

Woe! to those who shun the faithful, condone the unfaithful and forget the love of Christ Jesus.

January 1, 2015