The Greatest Gift - (Day Six)

"For God so loved the world that He gave 

His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him 

should not perish but have everlasting life." 

John 3:16 (NKJV)

Love is a word of action. It proves itself by what it does and it requires sacrifice. Through Christ's pure and holy love on an impure and unholy world, He GAVE His only Son. By the gift of His Son, God gives us Himself. Do you realize the magnitude of this gift?! If you have the gift of His Son, you have all you need. All the love we desire can be found at the cross, nothing can compare!

The only thing you can do when someone gives you a gift is take it or reject it. I don't know about you, but I've never turned down a birthday gift that someone is generously offering! Through the selfless sacrifice of Jesus we can now share in the eternal gift of salvation. Once our lives were leading to destruction and death and now we have abundant life. Through this scripture we can see that:

He loved us while He is greater than us.
He loved us while we are still sinners.
His love is not selfish.
His love is open for everyone.
His LOVE saves.
His love is the greatest love.

When you have been freely given the most wonderful and precious gift motivated by the most perfect Love, why wouldn't you accept it?

Love,
Ashley

Treasure Chest - (Day Five)

In our Scripture yesterday, Jesus told us that we can’t serve two masters.  Surely He knows our tendency to focus our lives around the lures of the world.  How easy it is for us to forget the reason we were created…for His pleasure.

Anyone who has turned on their television set recently can attest to the uncertainty of our nation.  Worry and fear are squeezing us from both sides.  In many instances, people turn to drugs and alcohol to disable their burdens.  They discover that they may be numb for a while, but the pain returns and now they have more problems to deal with.

I remember when people were storing up during a time of worry and uncertainty before “Y2K.”  Being prepared is one thing, but focusing on what “could” happen is not where the Lord wants us.  This “what-if” scenario took our eyes off of God’s hope and power and placed them on fear.  No doubt, this is right where the enemy wants us. 

There was a time in my life when materialism was my god.  My endless search only took me from store to store because of my constant love for “things.”  When the new became old, my quest didn’t miss a beat.  It wasn’t until I took a good look into my treasure chest and realized that my love for material goods was indeed my treasure. 

So, what is in your treasure chest?  What are the things that you value and hold near and dear to your heart?  Perhaps your job, car, or reputation is deemed your most prized and loved possession.  While it isn’t a bad thing to have worldly goods, too often we come to love these belongings so much they begin to own us! 

Our focus needs to be off of those things that will rot and be destroyed and on the eternal…our first LOVE, JESUS!    

“For where your treasure is, 

there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)

Forever His,

Anita

Make Him Your First Love - (Day Four)

Although our scripture is easy to understand, it is hard for us to put it into practice.  “No one can serve two masters.”  The word “master” used here is kurios in the Greek which translates as “lord”…the same word used when we call Him our Lord God.  The word “serve” in this verse translates into a slave relationship and slaves during this culture served one master full time.  This passage of Scripture is in telling us that we can’t serve both God and any other lord over our life. 

Jesus requires total allegiance.  He is very upfront with us and expects us to make the right choices.  Of course we need to work for our paychecks in order to provide for our basic needs.  That is a given.  However, we need to look beyond these necessities and take inventory of how we spend our time, our talent, and our treasure. 

By keeping track of our budgets we can easily detail our expenses and see if we are spending more money on our daily lattes than our offerings to the Lord.  Our bank statements reveal if we are eating out more than we are giving to our church missionaries. 

Where do you spend your time?  Check your television’s DVR to see how many hours you are recording of your favorite shows.  Is this time outweighing your Bible reading?  How would you gage your church attendance?  Do you only attend on Sunday when you don’t have a brunch invite or weekend getaway?

The above isn’t bad in and of itself.  I challenge you to take stock of your life and see how you stack up. Remember, the rub comes when we allow them to overtake our LOVE for the Lord.     

“No one can serve two masters;

for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Matthew 6:24 (NKJV)

Forever His,

Anita

Four Types of Love - (Day Three)

Throughout time, the definition of love has manifested itself into varies forms within our culture. The same form we use to express our love for another human is the same meaning we use to describe the deep love we possess for our animals and a shopping trip to the local mall. The Greeks paid more attention to detail since they had 4 specific words to describe love. They are as follows:

Eros; The Greek word for sensual love. It's the physical, sensual love between husband and wife within the bond of marriage. This term does not appear in the Bible, but is portrayed in the Old Testament book, Song of Solomon.

Storge; This Greek word for family love (bonds among mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers) is also not found in Scripture, although many examples of this type family love can be found throughout the Bible.

Phileo; The Greek word for brotherly love means friendship, and is the type of love in Scripture that most Christians practice towards one another. As Christians, we are commanded to love our fellow brothers and sisters.

Agape; The highest of the four types of LOVE, Agape love, is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional. It is not based on emotion at all. It is an act of the will. This love perfectly describes Jesus Christ's divine love to His Father and all humanity. Agape love tends to present a challenge to us as believers. There will always be that certain individual who makes it hard for us to "love." And yet the Lord is clear on His commandant when He calls us to love one another. A good example of this is in John 21:15-17 where Jesus asks Peter three times if he "Agape" loves Him, to which Peter replies each time that he "Phileo" loves Him. Although Jesus was asking Peter for unconditional love, knowing himself, Peter knew he could only offer brotherly love. While Christ would like for us to strive for Agape love, sometimes all we can offer is Phileo.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;
and everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God." 1 John 4:7 (NKJV)

Love,
Ashley

God is Love - (Day Two)

Yesterday we discovered that society’s definition of love is tied to our emotions and can be superficial.  Too often, when we say we love someone, it is based on our attraction to them and how they make us feel.  Conditional.  Our love fulfills a need in us before we can love others.  Perhaps you or someone you know have said things like, “I love him because... ‘He’s cute,’ or ‘He’s a lot of fun,’ or ‘He really cares about me.’” 

Watch out!  Our love for others is also unpredictable.  Just visit a Family Court session on any given day and you will see couples, who once loved each other, in the fight of a lifetime.  Through various circumstances they have “fallen out of love.”  No longer do they “feel” love for one another.  Their marriage vows, unfortunately, only lasted a season.

But, wait!  There is a bigger love than this one.  A love that isn’t based on warm and fuzzy feelings.  A love that no one can change no matter how good or bad they are.  This is a love that is unconditional and never fails.  God’s love…1 John 4:8

“God is LOVE.”   

“Beloved, let us love one another,

for love is from God;

and everyone who loves is

born of God and knows God.

⁸The one who does not love

does not know God, for God is love.

⁹By this the love of God was manifested in us,

 that God has sent His only begotten Son

into the world so that we might live through Him.

¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God,

but that He loved us and sent His Son

to be the propitiation for our sins.

¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us,

we also ought to love one another.”

1 John 4:7-11 (NASB)

Forever His,

Anita

31 Day Challange: 31 Days of Love (Day One)

Some people spend their entire life looking for it in all the wrong places.  We have watched it unfold on the big screen, read about it in poems, and even acknowledge how easy it lures us.  Tina Turner asked the question in the lyrics to her song, “What’s love got to do with it…who needs a heart when a heart can be broken.”  No doubt, she understood its powerful effects on our emotions and how something that can provide us so much joy can also cut us deeply through pain or sorrow.

The definition of love, according to Dictionary.com includes the following:  a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend; or a sexual passion or desire.  In our society, we see people starving for love. We all need love.   

During the next 31 days, we are going to explore LOVE from God’s perspective.  We will see the far reaching depths of God’s love available for you and me.

Forever His,

Anita

...Just wait

We live in a day and age when everything is at our fingertips, fast paced, and on demand. The idea of standing in a check-out line for more than 10 minutes can have some individuals frustrated, angry, and spewing out words their mamas wouldn't be proud of. Unfortunately, this thought process has caused our culture to become quite uncomfortable with the idea of waiting. It tries every ounce of our patience...and we can't stand it.


Throughout our lifetime we are faced with many opportunities to grasp new lessons the Lord is trying to teach us while we are in a season of waiting. Recently, I've had conversations with several friends about the idea of waiting when it comes to a spouse. As each of us continues to grow older with every passing year, the circle of friends in our single stage of life has dwindled down to a few remnants - leaving some of them tired, impatient, and frankly "over it".


Our world views singleness as a bad thing. It's almost as if there is this invisible time clock that abruptly goes off once an individual reaches a certain age and they aren't married or in a dating relationship.  It's as if to say "you'd better hurry up, time's running out!"  Many of us have had friends and/or family concerned that we haven't found the "one" or that we aren't looking hard enough. But who are they and who are we to say when someone should be married or if at all?  Being single doesn't define you. We serve the Author of time and if it is His will, it will happen...in HIS timing.


"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him..." Psalm 37:7a


Sometimes you may feel like your prayers are falling on deaf ears. Often we try to take control of the situation, whether it be through compromising, settling for less than God's best, etc, for it is our fleshly response to the silence. Patience (also called long suffering) is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5).  Since we cannot do this in our own power, we need to ask for help from the Holy Spirit. Our strength is found in Him and through Him we will learn to persevere through any circumstance.


There is purpose through the process. We can use times of waiting to grow and mature in our relationship with the Lord. Waiting on God forces us to look to Christ. He desires to prepare you (Hebrews 13:20,21), to teach you to stay on your knees (1 Peter 5:6.7), and provide you receive HIS best (Ephesians 3:20). Waiting builds character.


How can we become the women God wants us to be if we don't take the time to sit, grow, and invest in our first love?  Only He can truly satisfy the longings of our heart and fill that area in our life.  When we begin to compare our lives to the lives of those around us, we can easily allow bitterness, jealousy, and anger to fester within. These are not godly attributes and will only draw us away from the Lord and the work He is doing in our hearts.


Allow this season of singleness to draw you closer to Him as He speaks so tenderly to you, while you actively wait on Him.

"Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; 

Wait, I say, on the Lord!" 

Psalm 27:14

Wait for God's best. Don't compromise! Don't settle!

...Just wait

With love,
Ashley