Living God's Word: Love One Another
God’s word living in us is the most astonishing reality we could ever experience. God’s Word is not just words on a page, but a living Word unlike any other designed to be believed and incorporated into our lives.
What is the most important act of living God’s Word? I believe the answer is quite obvious: To love the Lord Thy God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
As we look at this profound truth of loving God, we need to take the next step in what was commanded us by our Lord and Savior:
Mat 22:39: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [Your neighbor is any and everyone else].
Living the Word of God and our Christian lifestyle not only includes loving God fully and completely but loving others as well. Loving others is not just a suggestion in the Bible, but Jesus called it a commandment:
Loving others is the right choice. When you make that choice, when you plant seeds of love, encouragement, and blessing, you are going to see a harvest of peace and joy that will make a difference in your life. Remember, loving others isn’t something you may normally feel like doing. It requires a decision. But making a choice to love blesses them and it blesses you.
HOW DO WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?
1 Peter 4:8-10: And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
In conclusion, Christianity is a doing ministry. It is loving with the love that Christ loved us. We have the love of God in us. So, we have the capacity to love others. That is what we should be doing. Make a decision to love on others.
Agape, Bob
Living God’s Word: Our Ultimate Response
We who appreciate the magnitude of the living Word of God realize its uniqueness over any other written document. Being a “living word” makes the Bible stand out above and beyond any other text.
Hebrews 4:12 ESV: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
God’s Word is designed to be lived and fully incorporated into the believer’s life. Discovering God’s desire to love us and bring us into His dynamic family arrests a response that should be easily entreated.
What is Our ultimate response to this incredible Word of God that is loaded with His love for us?
To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength!
Why? Because He created you and I and all of life. He first loved us and gave us an eternal relationship with Him as our Father and we as His love child. We owe Him everything and we are nothing without Him!
The lonely Heavenly Father needed more than angels to connect with. He needed you and I to love Him and be loved by Him.
You are truly His love child; His dream of dreams. You are the praise of His glory!
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: Eph 1:11.
With the purpose…
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. Eph 1:12.
Truly our ultimate response to this is to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. See Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; Mk 12:30 and Luke 10:27.
Agape, Bob
AI and God’s Word
How exciting to have information in every form imaginable at our fingertips via AI (Artificial Intelligence). Or is it?
Can we really trust what AI provides? Is it really healthy for humans to rely on a bunch of information that comes electronically without checking the source. In a recent article on AI, the author said, “AI will dissolve the capacity to think, simply because we are not required to do so.” Further he says, “A student or a worker who relies on AI to generate all answers will not ever develop intuition, judgement, or even intelligence.”
The challenge to find the answer, to seek the truth through study, comparison, diligence in research produces genuine learning. The finding of truth causes us to thrive. God’s Word declares that we are to be workman of the Scriptures.
2 Timothy 2:15 (ASV): Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.
Think about it? Are we going to depend on some programmer to provide the truth in an AI source? We are talking about the Words of Life. God wants us to put a diligent effort into working His Word to get to the truth.
What an exhilarating joy it is to research the Bible, reading the Scriptures, comparing translations, looking at the Greek and Aramaic to discover the truth.
What does “artificial” mean anyway? Webster’s Dictionary says, “Made by human skill; produced by humans, not natural.” As believers our source of truth does not come from humans, but God Almighty (The God breathed Word in 2 Timothy 3:16). There is nothing artificial about the Word of God.
Hebrew 4:12 (ESV): For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The experience of discovering the gems of God Word will come through a diligent effort in working His Word, not just pushing a button and getting a programmer’s opinion.
Agape, Bob
Are You Still Broken?
As I have picked up different books that are designed to help people with spiritual matters, I am amazed that so many of them encourage folks to spend time laying out their faults and inadequacies. Yes, when we start down the noble road of our Christian walk, we may want to unload the baggage that held us in fear, but let’s not go back and pick them up again after we are on the glory road with Christ.
Are you still broken? Remember the old man is dead and our life is all about the new man. Sure, we are limited in ourselves, but we are not limited with Christ within and having the gift of holy spirit resident in us. With the new birth, we are on a trajectory to the more abundant life in Christ! We are seated in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6). We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
There are a number of worldly successful programs that appeal to people, but their emphasis is on how broken you are, not who you are so much as a redeemed person. Two programs come to mind: Alcoholic Anonymous and the US Marine Corps.
AA while helping many has its limitations compared to the solutions the Heavenly Father has. The members are always confessing that they are still alcoholics, even being dry for years. How about declaring, “I was an alcoholic, but now I am free in Christ!”
The US Marine Corps, of which I am a member (Once a Marine always a Marine), take new recruits and tear them down in the beginning and then mold them into dedicated fighting machines.
Thankfully God does not have to beat us down or ask for us to confess our shortcomings. We confess the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in His resurrection to become filled with all the spectacular spiritual realities of holy spirit. He wants us to put off the old man inherited by Adam, and put on this new man in Christ, so that we can walk in victory. Philippians nails the reality of this:
Philippians 3:13&14: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let’s remember, we are not still broken. Yes, maybe we were, but God has rescued us and put us in His family forever. “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God” (1 John 3:20,21).
Let’s stay excited about what God has called us to be and to do in the One Body of Christ. You are His awesome child now and forever!
Agape, Bob
If there is one thing committed Christian believers have is an insatiable hunger for the truth.
For me, it took searching for eight years before an impactful Bible class satisfied my starvation for truth.
Just yesterday I was talking with the husband of a friend of my daughter who were staying with us attending her high school reunion. He has a five year daughter that he was very concerned about. He admitted he did not have the answers to life but wanted to know if there was a definitive truth. I smiled as he bare his heart before me. Years ago I was at a point that he was. I shared some Biblical truths with him and encouraged him to stay hungry and keep searching.
It was a Bible class that opened my eyes, as well as a fellowship of committed believers that were an example of what I could expect from living God’s Word. I am sure grateful for the privilege our ministry has had to put together a simplified Bible class that can feed any hunger a person would have in wanting to learn the truth.
God promises if someone hungers after the truth, he shall be filled:
Matthew 5:6: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
I am thankful we (Acts Now Fellowship) have been able to put together a foundational Bible class that can touch hungry hearts with God’s Word. We shared it live in March and now have it available on YouTube via Acts Now Fellowship, playlist: Our New Life in Christ. It is some 7 hours of teaching over 14 segments. A syllabus for $10 is available as well. We feel it can reach a hungry heart with the truth in a wonderful and dynamic way. Please check it out and share with a hungry soul!
Agape,
Bob