God . . . bears all things

On March 7, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things.

Love abides all things and survives. The ERV Bible reads, “Love never gives up on people.” It is good, no, it is great that God loves us with this kind of affection. No matter what we do; no matter how far we may have traveled from the path, His love never gives up on us. Another translation says, “Love never stops being patient” (God’s Word). That is a bit hard to imagine but He never, ever gives up on anyone. He is patient with us as we endeavor to find our way. God still loves that person that we think of as being far from the truth. That is not to say that He approves of their path or choices but His love remains undiminished. There is not one thing any of us can do to make God love us even one iota less than if we were perfect. His love cannot be earned with any amount of good works or perfect behavior. He loves us because at the foundation of the earth He chose to. When He first envisioned human beings He made a decision to love us and the only way God can love is as the unfettered, unearned, patient, caring love that He is. He is bound by who He is and He is love as it is defined in this chapter. Love bears up under all things. It does not fail because of wrongs suffered. God’s love is perfect.

We can love in the same way but it is important to say that while we can continue to love someone who has wronged us we do not stay yoked with people who abuse us. We continue to love them as God does and we can pray with God’s kind of love issuing from our hearts but that is not the same as allowing ourselves to be mistreated. Relationships are built upon reciprocal kindness. I want you to accept God’s love as He means it and I want you to love others with the love that God gives you. I do not want you to think that makes you a victim to every person that wants to abuse you. That is not God’s best for you. We have to be wise in whom we associate with. The book of Proverbs teaches us that. God is not raising up victims but rather victors. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. We can and should express God’s love in this world because in Jesus we are the light of the world. Let your light shine by letting more of God’s love fill you. He is the love that never gives up on you, the love that bears all things.

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Putting on the Ritz

On January 5, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Colossians 3: 12 – 13

And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

We are the chosen of God. We have been adopted into the family of God by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and we are now joint heirs with Abraham. We are holy and beloved. Therefore, God wants us to walk in a manner worthy of our high calling. We are to put on the character of Jesus and walk in Him and in the manner of his calling on us. Our lives should be typified by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiveness. For these are the characteristics of Christ himself and the life we now live we live in Him. If anyone is lacking in any of these attributes, he should ask of the Lord Jesus and he who gives all freely will anoint you with all you need so that you might also walk in all the grace which he has poured out on mankind. It is a high calling to walk in this kind of grace and fellowship. It is the high calling of Jesus on our lives. So put on Christ and be transformed.

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There Go I

On May 28, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Titus 3: 3

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Paul gives us the perfect example for being patient and kind with others, ourselves We once were just as painful to be around as the unlovely are to us now. I praise God that we are growing and learning to be more like Christ but let us not lose sight of where we were before His grace moved in our lives. We demonstrated all of the undesirable traits above and probably a few more. Now as we are learning to be more like Christ we must learn to love and be kind to people even while they are in an unenlightened state just like Christ was generous and forgiving with us. I do not say that it is always easy but by focusing our attention on those qualities God would have us develop we come up just a bit higher. Set your sights on the heights. You will bless those around you.

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The Character of God

On April 3, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

We saw yesterday from 1 John 4: 8 and 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 8 that God’s essential nature is love. Today’s verse reveals the characteristics of God’s personality. As you look at them you can see that first is love but moreover that all the rest flow from love. The best way to get the full revelation of this verse is to put “God is” in front of each word i.e. God is love, God is joy….

These characteristics determine how God behaves and how He interacts with others just the same way as our personality traits predict how we will behave. So, God is always patient with us, always loving, kind and gentle. He exercises great self-control. Most of us can testify to the latter one.

Conversely, we can know what God is not by acknowledging His qualities. For example, we can deduce that God is not unkind or unfaithful. Can we not deduce a great deal more though? He is not cruel, vengeful, harsh, intolerant, hateful, spiteful or mean-spirited. He is all things which are good and none of those traits which are painful to us. He is ultimate goodness and kindness. He is neither over-bearing nor a punitive spirit. His intent, therefore, is not to punish us but rather to guide us with loving hands. And He is not scary. He is beautiful. He is warmth and sunshine.

We can know the Father of all personally, intimately and as we do we perceive greater and greater levels of His great kindness and affection. He is completely predictable in His goodness towards all creation. He loves us.

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Rest for His People

On November 13, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 37: 7 a

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Pick a word in the verse that you don’t like. Go ahead; there are plenty of opportunities there. Let’s see, how about rest, wait and patiently? How can such a short verse have so many challenges in it?

I am learning that this is a powerful idea even if it is very difficult to do. For all of you Type A personalities who model action and doing this verse probably poses a few trials for you as it does for me. How then are we to attain such an ideal state? I really think there is great power in this verse but to reach this restful state we are going to have to slow down ourselves for a bit. Here is where mediation can be a strong ally. How do you slow yourself down so that you can quietly and patiently wait for the Lord? Sometimes exercise can help you burn off the stress and excess energy so that you can be still and rest in God. Music may work for you, perhaps art. For me it is often about just getting outside. There is serenity in simply admiring God’s great creation. Each of us must find our own strategies for slowing ourselves down so that we can enter a quiet state. When we can be still then we can hear what God is speaking to us and that inevitably leads to rest.

There is also an element of trust imbedded in this verse. In order to rest in God and wait patiently for Him you must trust that He will answer you. Otherwise you will want to work in the might of your hand. As we learn these principles we find that God can do more while we meditate than we can accomplish through hours of striving. A heart that honestly believes in God will be a heart that is at rest. The moment we begin to feel stress then we know that we have moved out of that divine peace which is the hallmark of a life lived in and through Christ. However, if we truly trust our God to meet our need, then our hearts will remain peaceful.

There is more in this idea of resting in and trusting God than I think most of us have comprehended. How can we do all that we need to do and remain in a restful state? There is a revelation on partnership with the God of creation that we have just not grasped yet. Perhaps you are the one who can teach this to the rest of us. This is the essence of faith; trusting rather than striving. I welcome you, all of you, to go to the blog site where we post this daily devotional and enter your comments. Perhaps we can begin a dialogue and share our experiences. Those of you who are more successful at resting in God can help the rest of us. The blog site is www.iveyministries.blogspot.com. 

Be at peace. Rest, knowing that He is God.

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