Love

The Greatest Hope

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34

Every day our news is filled with the latest revelation of some scandal and the almost inevitable end of the career of some famous person. When we are hurt by those we love or begin to think of our own failures we can easily lose all hope.

But think of the last supper when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet while they were arguing about who was the best, Peter was just hours away from publicly denying that he knew Jesus  and Judas was planning to betray Him. Somehow in the middle of that tangled mess, Jesus still looked at His disciples with hope. The hope that Jesus placed in them was not based on the circumstances or the purity of their hearts. His hope for them and for us is based entirely on His choice to love. His love holds the key to His hope. By His love and grace, no matter how low we have fallen, can still make us into the man or woman He created us to be.  God’s hope has less to do with information about our past then with His plans for our future!

In light of God’s hope for us how much hope should we have for the people around us? When we begin to love others as He commands we will suddenly discover, there is still a great hope that we can share with the world today!

What are we Praying for?

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Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3‭-‬4 NKJV

How will the world know that we love Jesus? How will they come to understand that He is a friend and master who is worth giving their lives to. Is it by seeing us going to church every Sunday? Will they be impressed by our degrees in theology or maybe by the title Reverend so and so? Maybe our best message about the love of God in Christ can only be seen by the way we treat others. Maybe they will never see the value of the cross of Jesus Christ until they see it in our attitudes. God gives to each of us today a chance to love someone more than we love ourselves. What better way is there to reach one soul for whom He gave His Son?

Fearless!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 ESV

Terror attacks, earthquakes and endless wars dominate our daily headlines. Sometimes family conflicts and crises make it seem as if our world is closing in around us. In his day, the apostle John had seen Jesus crucified, his own brother executed by King Herod and a crowd of ‘religious people’ stone his friend Stephen to death in the middle of the day. John and been in prison with Peter and was arrested again by the Roman authorities then sent to a penal colony on the Island of Patmos.

Interestingly, when John talks about freedom from fear he doesn’t mention a strong army to come to our defense. He doesn’t talk about the confidence of having good legal representation to defend us or powerful friends in places of influence who will stand up for our rights. John tells us that the best defense against any kind of fear is love! John knew that fear is completely stripped of power in the face of God’s love. That love of God as witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ is strong enough to handcuff our fears and put them under arrest. God’s perfect love is so powerful that no army, no terroristic threat and no human enemy can defeat. And the best news of all is that this perfect love is available to anyone who is ready to receive it. We can’t earn His love and we don’t need to wait to figure it out. With arms opened wide on the cross God’s love receives thieves, forgives crucifiers and blesses fearful disciples. His amazing, unending and perfect love overcomes the world and casts out every fear!

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 …if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there… MATT 17:20