Prayer For The Hurting

February 20, 2013 So much has been written about prayer that it seems useless to reiterate what so many have already said, but I had a call from one of my sister-in-laws who has physically hurt for so many years and the pain is getting progressively worse. She has consulted several doctors and is planning to go to another specialist for advice. The pain has disabled her to the point of hardly being able to walk, and she has requested prayer from family and friends for months. Why has she not been healed? (James 5:16) We all ask ourselves questions: 1) Do we not have enough faith? 2) Does God not care? 3) Is God not able to heal today? 4) If God is able and if He cares, why does He not heal now? 5) Will God keep His promises? Satan, our deceiver, brings all kinds of questions, doubts and fears to our minds to discredit God when we are in the throes of any kind of hurt. He accuses us of having “little faith,” but remember the story in the Bible when a father brought his son with a “dumb” spirit to Jesus to be healed. The father asked if Jesus could do anything, to which He replied, “All things are possible to him who believe.” The father responded with, “Lord, I believe but help my weakness of faith.” Jesus did heal the son (Mark 9:17-28). So how do we get more faith to believe for “all things?” Romans 10:17 tells us that, “faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the message that came from the lips of Christ, the Messiah Himself” (Amp.). So we can answer question (5) with a resounding “yes!” He does keep His promises! “He is not like man that He would tell or act a lie” (Numbers 23:19). You see He is “YHWY, ELOHIM, the strong, faithful, covenant keeping God, and He Who promised is reliable and faithful to His Word” (Heb.10:21-23). Yes, God still heals today, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb.13:8). He never changes (Mal.3:6). His Word never changes, “Heaven and earth may pass away but My Word will never pass away” (Matt.24:35). Nothing can stand against His Word. God Himself said that His Word is like fire that consumes all that cannot endure the test and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock of most stubborn resistance” (Jer.23:29). So pray the Word, repeat God’s promises back to Him, while giving thanks for answering. “God is merciful and kind and loves each of His children with an everlasting love; and His faithfulness and Truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5). Yes God cares! So, we might ask, “Why doesn’t He heal me now when I am praying and trying to believe?” God’s thoughts and ways are not the way we think or would do things (Isa.55:8). His ways are so far above ours. We don’t understand His ways and His timing, but He is always on time and we must remember, “He makes all things beautiful in His time” (Eccl.3:11; II Chr.20:14-25). We must also trust Him to do His work not only in our lives but in the lives of all those who are observing our situation, our response to God’s promises and timing and our steadfast trust in a God Who will either heal us now (sometimes with the help of doctors and medications), or says to “wait” for His perfect time. Sometimes He gets more glory from perfecting our patience, hope and trust in Him while walking with us through our dark valley of testing (I Cor.10:13). His perfect time for our healing may be when we get to heaven - then we will have the perfect healing. Whether He heals us now or then I have found if we will praise Him for Who He is and thank Him “in” and “for” all things (I Thess.5:18; Eph.5:20; Ps.119:71) we can have “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” We just had a good friend die after two years of battling cancer, and we prayed all the two years. We saw some healings along the way and lived in hope of complete healing, but the Lord knew best. I never heard her say a negative or doubtful word about her condition but was always full of joy that God had kept her until then. She raised and bred sheep and trained her dogs to be sheep dogs. After she died, her husband expressed his trust in the Lord to have done what was best. He remarked to us that, “Jesus needed another shepherd up there with Him.” His response of praise and even joy toward the Lord for taking his wife Home has been such a strong witness of God’s keeping power through the greatest tribulation he would ever go through. Praising God in the middle of our “testing” will change us and grow our faith, and will change others who are watching. There was a song we had sung at our daughter-in-law’s memorial service that I think sums up what I have been trying to say. It is: When We Can’t Trace His Hand, Trust His Heart (Babbie Mason) All things work for our good Though sometimes we can't See how they could, Struggles that break our hearts in two Sometimes blind us to the truth. Our Father knows what's best for us His ways are not our own. So when your pathway grows dim And you just can't see Him, Remember you're never alone. Chorus: God is too wise to be mistaken, God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, When don't see His plan, When you can't trace His hand, Trust His Heart He sees the master plan, He holds the future in His hand, So don't live as those who have no hope, All our hope is found in Him. We see the present clearly, But He sees the first and last. And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me, To someday be just like Him. Chorus: He alone is faithful and true, He alone knows what is best for you. When you don't understand, When you don't see His plan, When you don't understand, When you can't trace His hand, Trust His Heart.

Did I Hear A Shout And A Trumpet?

February 4, 2013 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.”(I Thessalonians 4:16 (Amp.) Every day I wake up to a fresh realization that we are one day closer to the coming of Christ. The Word tells us to watch and wait. It also gives us hints as what to look for when Christ comes to catch us up. Tonight I hope it is this night, and tomorrow I will wake hoping it is that day, etc. The above scripture tells us how this rapture (catching up) will happen. Paul is writing to the Thessalonians to enlighten them about questions they had about Christ’s return for believers. In verses 13-17 of the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians, Paul tells believers not to grieve for those who die in Christ as those grieve who have no hope beyond the grave. Believers should know that even as Jesus died and rose again, even so when Christ returns for us, those who have died in Christ will be raised first to newness of life and precede us that are still living on earth. This is how it will happen: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life will rise first. Then we the living ones who remain on the earth, shall simultaneously be caught up along with the resurrected dead in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always through the eternity of the eternities we shall be with the Lord” (vs.16 & 17). So there is going to be a great delegation of believers who will meet Jesus in the air. I John 3:2 says that when we as God’s children see Him we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He really is. “The Lord Himself will ascend from heaven with a loud shout…” Have you ever speculated on what He will be shouting? I think He will be shouting, “Come on home, children! Come on up with Me! This is your homecoming. THIS IS THE DAY OF THE LORD!” I Corinthians 15:52 Paul tells us that this rapture will happen in “a twinkling of an eye.” I read somewhere that a twinkle of the eye was 1/50th of a second. What a mystery that is, because Revelation 1:7 tells us that every eye will see Him, even those who pierced (hurt and rejected) Him, and all peoples of the earth will look on Him and mourn and lament over Him (because they had rejected Him when they had opportunities to accept). What a wonderful day that will be for the believer, the day for which we are all looking! But for those who have rejected the One Who loves them and died for them so they could live with Him forever, it will be a sad and terrible day (I Thessalonians 1:10). Are you listening for the shout and the trumpet? What A Day That Will Be! Jim Hill “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, and I look upon His face - the One Who saved me by His grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me thru the promised land, what a day, what a day that will be.”

The Unique Word of God

Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose and action. (II Timothy 3:16 Amp.) To be unique is “to exist in only one known example – the only one, sole, peerless, matchless, incomparable, unprecedented, unequaled.” Every normal person is like many others in some ways – we are conceived and born in the same way; we have the same physical features such as: two arms, legs, eyes, ears and etc. But we are also unique in many ways – biological make-up, such as our DNA, our fingerprints and the irises of our eyes. And we have unique life experiences, relationships and etc. But the most unique one to ever live was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was unique in ways that no other is unique. No other who has been or will be born had an immaculate conception (virgin birth), lived a sinless life, Who was, and is, and always will be, the only Savior of the world. Even Jesus Christ’s Words were unique. “No mere man has ever spoken as He speaks” (Jn.7:46). Jesus was the “Divine Expression” of the Father - His Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself (Jn.1:1), the “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6). And this Word was made flesh and dwells among us as told in scripture (God’s Word) All scripture was Spirit breathed into and through man and translated into different languages. This infallible Scripture is our Bible – God’s Word. As E. MacLelland said it, “It is profitable to tell us what is right; it is profitable to reprove us and tell us what is not right; and it is profitable for correction to tell us how to get right; and it is profitable for instruction in righteousness, to tell us how to keep right.” Is it any wonder that David proclaimed in Psalm 119:11, “I will hide Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” We too must read It, meditate on It and then obey It because, “It is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe” (Rom.1:29). It is the Good News (the gospel)! So we must eat It, digest It and let It give us strength and wisdom to walk with God with clean hands and a pure heart. How unique a Word is that? God’s Word is unique in that when God speaks it is like when it rains and snows and waters the earth and causes it to sprout, then grow and brings a harvest for seed to plant again and for making bread to eat. God’s Word that goes out from His mouth will never return to Him useless without accomplishing the effect He desired – It will always prosper in the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11). As we read God’s Word, meditate on and accept It’s Truth, then act on that Truth, It is powerful and will change us for good – our thoughts, words and actions and gives us a new heart and life. What other book can do all those things? The Bible (God’s Word) is the biggest “best seller in history” – why? Because God’s Word is eternal (Matt.24:35) and ever living (I Pet.1:23). God’s powerful Word created the heaven and earth and all that is in it (II Pet.3:5). Heaven and earth will someday pass away but God’s Word will never pass away – it is eternal. Many have tried to destroy the Bible, but because It is Truth (God’s Word) it can’t be destroyed. One of the Truths out of God’s Word is that Jesus is the True and only way to be saved from eternal destruction (Acts 4:12; John 3:16) and through His name, and all that It means – “Savior, Master, Lord.” The physical may be destroyed but the Truth of the Holy Bible will live on forever. The Truth of that unique book is free (Rev.22:17) – salvation, freedom from the bondage of sin, abundant life here and now, hope of eternal life and God’s everlasting love for us, all free. Excerpts from God’s Word are written on our government buildings and were the foundation of our U.S. constitution – from no other book. Now they want to remove those writings. It won't matter how much of this unique book they remove or destroy, the Truth of God's Word will never pass away! David Jeremiah encouraged us to look at the uniqueness of this Word of God, “The Bible was written in sixty six installments over a period of 1600 years in three languages on three continents. It has more than forty authors from all walks of life, writing under diverse conditions, and writing on hundreds of controversial topics. Yet it all fits together, seamlessly and without error or contradiction. When we hold the Bible in our hands, we aren’t holding an anthology or a bundle of scattered and miscellaneous thoughts. We’re holding one comprehensive, cohesive volume with a logical beginning and ending, telling us one story centered around one person – Jesus Christ. It’s as though a Master Author was behind it all, which there was. When we hear someone attack the Bible, we shouldn’t be too alarmed. The Bible has a habit of outliving all its critics.” This unique Book even tells us of Jesus’ unique death. For example; 1) no one could take His life – after completing the work the Father had sent Him to do, He chose to die then He dismissed His own spirit. “I lay down my own life; no one takes it away from Me. On the contrary, I lay it down voluntarily. I am authorized and have power to take it back again. These are the instructions which I have received as my charge from My Father” (Jn.10:17-18; 19:30). 2) His death was unique in the fact that it was “substitutionary” – He died for all so all could be offered eternal life. Some could offer their life for another so that one could live, but no one could offer eternal life (Col.1:14; 20-22). 3) His death was temporary in that on the third day he rose victoriously from the dead, in due time ascended into heaven to sit forever at the right hand of God the Father, forever to intercede for us (Rom.8:34). What a Word! What a God! How incomprehensibly unique! I have thought it was interesting why in Psalm 138:2; God magnified His Word above His Name. It think it is because all of God’s names are descriptive of the different facets of God’s character, but God’s Word is alive and full of power, making It active, operative, energizing and effective. It is like a two-edged sword, penetrating and dividing our very soul (mind, will and emotions) from our spirit (the deepest part of our nature), exposing, sifting, analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of our hearts (Heb.4:12). When God speaks things happen. He speaks the will and purposes of His heart, and will not return to Him without changing whatever He purposes to change (Isaiah 55:ll). What other book can claim this? How unique! Standing on the promises that cannot fail when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail; by the living Word of God I shall prevail - standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword - standing on the promises of God. (R. Kelso Carter)

"P" - "Precise Prince of Peace"

December 15, 2011 “He is the sole expression of the glory of God and He is the precise imprint and very image of God’s nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3) Precise - this may sound like a strange word to use for an Advent writing, but our pastor used this word in a sermon and I immediately began to think of other words having to do with Advent that this adjective, “precise,” would describe. Webster says to be precise is to be “decisive, well defined, accurate, exact, inflexible and uncompromising.” What a wonderful adjective to describe Jehovah God, He is precise. He is decisive and uncompromising, He is the immutable God – He never changes. He has a precise plan for our salvation. That precise plan was for His Son to be born of a virgin, live as a man and die as our Savior, and send the Holy Spirit to live in us & empower us. Jesus never waivered nor was compromising from this precise plan. Jesus was the precise Person and precise Provision that would fulfill the precise plan, just at the precise time. The Father knew that man must have a perfect (exact, without a flaw) sacrifice for man’s sins. Jesus was the only perfect and precise Person that could satisfy God’s requirement for a holy sacrifice and bring us perfect restoration to man. The Father had a precise purpose, which was to pick us out for Himself in Christ, before the foundation of the world, and for us to be set apart and blameless in His sight, and be adopted as His own children through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:4-6). His precise purpose was to give us peace, joy, healing, hope and all we could ask for, all of which comes to us by our salvation. The climax of God’s precise purpose was in the maturity of time to unify all things and consummate them in Christ, both things in heaven and on earth. In Christ we obtained an inheritance in accordance to His precise purpose, Who works out everything. God’s precise purpose was for those who had relied on Him to be stamped with the seal of the precisely promised Holy Spirit and all the gifts that He has for us (Eph.1:6-14). The Father’s precise purpose and plan was also that His Son would come to us as the Prince of Peace. “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called….”Prince of Peace” (Isa.9:6). A prince is the son of a king. Jesus was born into humanity as the “Prince of Peace, the Son of God.” He would some day be King Jesus – King of kings. But from being “Prince” to “King” Jesus had to do a lot of living as a human. He was tempted with all kinds of sins, like all humans are, but without falling into sin. Have you ever thought when Jesus was a child if He ever bickered and argued in anger like all other children do? Did He tell those childish “little white lies?” Did He disobey His parents and was He selfish and even at times was He hateful like other children – after all, He was human? The answer is no to all these sins – He was sinless from birth. Although He was born into a human body, He was born the God-man. Although human He retained His holiness (purity, separation from sin). The whole concept of the truth of Christ’s incarnation is incomprehensible to us. He was the first and the last sinless human. For this reason we can trust Him to cleanse us from all our sinfulness, to live in us and give us a perfect heart. He came as a Prince (Son) to bring peace to us who, because we were born “children of wrath” (born with a sin nature) and thus we have been at war with the Holy Father. There is no peace, nor rest like having the “war” ended. Only by accepting this “Prince of Peace” can we ever truly know peace of mind and heart. Jesus came as the Prince of Peace but having done His “work” for our peace, He now sits as the King of kings with the Father and desires that we rule and reign with Him in His kingdom of Peace. Wonderful Peace W.D. Cornell Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight rolls a melody sweeter than psalm; In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls o’er my soul like an infinite calm. What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace buried deep in the heart of my soul, So secure that no power can mine it away while the years of eternity roll. I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus’ control, And I’m kept from all danger by night and by day – now His glory is flooding my soul. And I know when I rise to that city of peace where the Author of peace I shall see, That one of the anthems the ransomed will sing in that heavenly kingdom shall be: Peace! Peace! Wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows of love.

Wonderful Words of Life

November 20, 2012 Sing them over again to me – Wonderful words of life; Let me more of their beauty see – Wonderful words of life; Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty; Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. (Philip P. Bliss) Our tongue is one of the most powerful organs of our body. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that “life or death is in the power of the tongue.” We can speak life, hope, peace and healing with a gentle tongue (15:4), and speaking the truth in love. Also it says in the twelfth chapter and eighteenth verse, “There are some who speak rashly, like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Are we rash or are we wise with our words? Have you ever heard anyone extol the praises of harsh, vile words? I don’t think so. But Solomon, the wisest man ever to live, said in Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken and in due season (at the right time) is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Also in 15:23 he says, “A man has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment – how good it is!” The third chapter of James has a lot to say about the words that come from our tongue. In verses 5-12 it describes our tongue as "a fire, a world of wickedness which can contaminate and deprave our entire body, being itself ignited by everlasting punishment” (vs.6). James goes on to say in verses 7-8, that every sort of beast can be, and has been tamed, by human genius, but no man can tame the tongue. It is described as, “an irreconcilable evil, full of deadly poison.” In verses 9-12, James shows the dichotomy and hypocrisy of our untamed tongue – “With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God - these things ought not to be.” Then James ask us to reason about this unruly, small member of our body, “Does the same fountain simultaneously, send forth fresh and bitter water; or does a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?” The answer to these questions is, “Of course not!” Neither can a tongue that has been consecrated, cleansed and brought into control by the Holy Spirit speak evil and wicked words. We cannot tame our tongue, but we can yield its control to the Holy Spirit and let Him purify and bring it under His control. When we fail we must confess, repent and again yield our entire being to the Holy Spirit. Our words all start with our thoughts – “As a man thinks, so is he” (Prov.23:7), and we are to lead every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 10:5). As we “walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh,” then we can speak words of life. Then, and only then, can we be like Jesus Who spoke words of life. He strongly advised; He warned those who were unruly; He encouraged the fainthearted; He supported the weak, all the while He was patient with all men knowing how weak they were - and He is the same with us. To be like Jesus we must put our tongues on His proverbial altar – we must consecrate it, yield it, and submit it to His control. To speak continuous words of life we must stay filled with His Spirit. Even the Son said in Isaiah 50: 4, “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of one who is taught, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.” So we too must be taught (and easy to learn) how to speak the right words at the right time. “All men must be quick to hear (a ready listener), slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness of God (that He requires and requests).” So, I repeat the Word, instead of giving into the flesh and the carnal way of responding we must learn how to be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to get angry (James 1:19-20) –to speak life instead of death. Remember, “A soft answer turns away wrath but grievous words stir up anger (Prov.15:1). My prayer for all of us: O Lord, empty us of self and fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will be acceptable to You, our Strength and our Redeemer. Set a guard before our mouths so that only words of kindness, truth, wisdom and love would come forth. Keep watch at the door of our lips so that our words will be so filled with Your love that mercy and truth are met together, and that righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking deceit (Ps. 34:13;41:3; Prov.17:28; 26:22-28). Forgive us for our hypocrisy honoring You with our lips when our hearts are far from You (Mark 7:6), but help us to keep a pure heart and wonderful words of life coming from our mouths. Thank You, for Your promise which says, “For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days, keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from deceit” (I Peter 3:10). Now to You Who are able to keep us without stumbling, and to present us blameless and faultless before the presence of Your glory in triumphant joy and exultation with unspeakable delight – to the One and only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might and dominion, and power and authority, before all time and now and forever,unto all the ages of eternity (Jude 24-25). Amen.

Did I Hear A Shout And A Trumpet?

February 26, 2012 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first.”(I Thessalonians 4:16 (Amp.) Every day I wake up to a fresh realization that we are one day closer to the coming of Christ. The Word tells us to watch and wait. It also gives us hints as what to look for when Christ comes to catch us up. Tonight I hope it is this night, and tomorrow I will wake hoping it is that day, etc. The above scripture tells us how this rapture (catching up) will happen. Paul is writing to the Thessalonians to enlighten them about questions they had about Christ’s return for believers. In verses 13-17 of the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians, Paul tells believers not to grieve for those who die in Christ as those grieve who have no hope beyond the grave. Believers should know that even as Jesus died and rose again, even so when Christ returns for us, those who have died in Christ will be raised first to newness of life and precede us that are still living on earth. This is how it will happen: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life will rise first. Then we the living ones who remain on the earth, shall simultaneously be caught up along with the resurrected dead in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always through the eternity of the eternities we shall be with the Lord” (vs.16 & 17). So there is going to be a great delegation of believers who will meet Jesus in the air. I John 3:2 says that when we as God’s children see Him we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He really is. “The Lord Himself will ascend from heaven with a loud shout…” Have you ever speculated on what He will be shouting? I think He will be shouting, “Come on home, children! Come on up with Me! This is your homecoming. THIS IS THE DAY OF THE LORD!” I Corinthians 15:52 Paul tells us that this rapture will happen in “a twinkling of an eye.” I read somewhere that a twinkle of the eye was 1/50th of a second. What a mystery that is, because Revelation 1:7 tells us that every eye will see Him, even those who pierced (hurt and rejected) Him, and all peoples of the earth will look on Him and mourn and lament over Him (because they had rejected Him when they had opportunities to accept). What a wonderful day that will be for the believer, the day for which we are all looking! But for those who have rejected the One Who loves them and died for them so they could live with Him forever, it will be a sad and terrible day (I Thessalonians 1:10). Are you listening for the shout and the trumpet? What A Day That Will Be! Jim Hill “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, and I look upon His face - the One Who saved me by His grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me thru the promised land, what a day, what a day that will be.”

Happy Valentine's Day

February 14, 2012 "For God So loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shold not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Valentine’s Day is a day to express our love to others. Over the years this expression has evolved from just our sweetheart to anyone and everyone we care about. The post office and the flower shops say this is the busiest holiday of the year. It is good to know there is still a lot of love going around. God created us to love and desire to be loved - love is giving. Our love is manifested to man by “sacrifice” – to give. Just as God the Father gave His Son for us (and it was a Great Sacrifice). And Jesus gave Himself for us (the ultimate sacrifice) - “But God proves His love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This kind of love (Agape) is inconceivable. Jesus is the personification of love in that He made the ultimate sacrifice for man – His life. But when we truly love someone we are willing to “sacrifice” ourselves (time, energies, resources and even our life) for them. Our love is manifested to God by our “obedience” to Him. We give all we have, all we are and all we ever hope to be, (I John 5:3) “For the true love of God is this: that we do His commands. And these orders of His are not burdensome nor repressive.” Only when the love of God lives within us can we love Him back, then it is a joy to obey Him because we know He knows what is best for us, and not only to love Him and live in His presence, but only then can we truly love another. To love God is to have a deep desire to please Him; and to please Him is to obey Him. There are five different kinds of love: 1) Epithumia, this is a love that is a strong desire to have or own - controlling. 2) Eros, this is love most associated with romance. It is a sexual love. Eros love is wholly emotional and cannot be summoned at will. 3) Storge love is described as a comfortable old shoe relationship comprised of natural affection and a sense of belonging to each other. 4) Phileo, This love cherishes and has tender affection for the beloved but it expects a response. It is a love of relationship, comradeship, sharing, communication and friendship. 5) Agape, this is a love that loves completely and unconditionally, but expects nothing in return. Agape love is usually associated with God’s love – unconditional and everlasting. I read an article a long time ago about a study done on the orphanages in some of the Soviet block countries where the child-care people were not allowed to hold or caress the babies. Even when the babies were being fed the bottles were just propped up. The only time babies were touched was when they were diapered, bathed and dressed. These studies showed these babies who were never touched or showed any kind of love were sickly and many died. A follow-up study showed the survivors of these orphanages were emotionally maladjusted and never knew how to accept or give love, even after they were adopted and cared for. God created us to love and be loved and although we may never know the love of a person, our Heavenly Father wants to manifests His Agape love to all of us. Four of these loves come and go but Agape love, God’s love for us, is unconditional and forever. The following writing is by Charles Stanley, and is a meditation on: ____________ “Our Heavenly Father’s Unconditional Love.” Scripture tells us that love is the very essence of who God is. God is love (I John 4:16). So if you don’t believe that He loves you unconditionally, you’ll never really know Him or have genuine peace about your relationship with Him. How do you define “love”? It is Jesus unselfishly reaching out to mankind, giving Himself to us and bring good into our life regardless of whether or not we accept Him - “God shows and clearly proves His love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). His care and concern are so immeasurable that He laid down His life for us while we were still His enemies. In fact, the Bible says that He first began to express His love toward us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-5) That means your actions had absolutely nothing to do with His love for you! God’s commitment to us has absolutely no conditions or restrictions and isn’t based on whether we love Him back. Nor does He have more love for “good” people who may strike us as more worthy. He loves us even in our sin, even when we don’t repent. Does that give us license to disobey? No, It gives us power to follow Him is to receive the love He has been offering all along. Every single moment, whether awake or asleep, we all live under the canopy of the Lord’s wondrous, absolute love for us. But to fully experience that love, you must receive it. Say yes to this amazing gift that God wants to pour out on you. Bask in it, and let it overflow to those around you. ______________ O Love That Will Not Let Me Go George Matheson O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in You; I give You back the life I owe, that in Your ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. O Joy that seeks me through pain, I cannot close my heart to You; I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain That morn will tearless be. --------------- I send my love to you and pray you will experience God’s Agape love that will not let you go!