​

​Love Your Enemies
 
Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
- Luke 6:35-36
 
I think this passage carries this love thing just a little bit too far. Love my enemies? How can they be my enemy if I love them? That is a real conundrum. Can a person really be my enemy if I love him?
That may be the point. Others may want to be my enemy, but we make it very difficult for them when we give them kindness instead of responding to their assaults and insults with the same as they give us.
We can all agree that it is very difficult, if not impossible to love those who treat us as enemies. It looks like that is another point Jesus is making. He is giving us a task that is impossible for us to perform in our own ability just to see if we will trust him to work his will through us.
I don't know about you, but I find it impossible to love my enemies. At least in my own abilities. So what is Jesus trying to tell us?
If it is impossible to do this in our natural self perhaps Jesus is trying to tell us that we must depend upon the supernatural nature of the Christ in us. If God is love, as it says in 1 John, and if God truly does live in us, then wouldn't it carry that our new nature, our God-nature, would also be love?
Maybe this whole "love your enemy" thing is a test to see if we are still living in our old nature or if we are living in our new nature. That is something to think about.
 
Prayer: Lord, all too often I find myself having less than loving affection for my enemies. Grant me the grace of full surrender to your nature so I can fulfill this command of Christ to love my enemies. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message:  Jesus is trying to tell us that we must depend upon the supernatural nature of the Christ in us in order to love our enemies. If God is love, as it says in 1 John, and if God truly does live in us, then wouldn't it carry that our new nature, our God-nature, would also be love? Maybe this whole "love your enemy" thing is a test to see if we are still living in our old nature or if we are living in our new nature.
 
Affirmation:   I do not have to try and love my enemies, I just have to submit to God’s love and he will love them through me.
 
Reflection:  Think of someone you have considered to be an enemy. What would it take to love them as Christ loves them? Here is a good idea: Think of what they should do to show you that they aren’t an enemy, then do that to them as if they weren’t your enemy.

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​                                                 Love Your Neighbor
 
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the law?” Jesus replied, “How do you read it?” He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all you mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself” - Luke 10:25-27
 
“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”
Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
“A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, “Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill – I’ll pay you on my way back.’
“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”- (Luke 10:29-37 The Message Bible)
I guess that just about covers it.
 
Prayer: OK Lord, I confess. I am not always a good neighbor. There are times I have not responded with kindness to those in need. Forgive me for my selfishness and give me the grace to love my neighbor. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message:  Who is our neighbor? Jesus defined our neighbor, according to the story of the good Samaritan, anyone who has a need with which we are able to help; even if that person is my sworn enemy. Notice: Jews and Samaritans considered themselves enemies and had nothing to do with each other. Jesus called them neighbors.
 
Affirmation:   Jesus pointed out that my neighbor is anyone I come across who has a need that I can answer, and I am to offer my assistance to them.
 
Reflection:  On how many levels should we see our enemy as our neighbor? The grumpy person next door? That person at work who is trying to get our job? What about those in politics we disagree with? And here is the big one: What about the country that considers us their enemy? Give this some careful thought.

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​                                                       Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart
 
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
 - Deuteronomy 6:4-5
 
It was the tendency of people in the early days of Israel to worship many gods. They had gods for everything; rain, draught, livestock, love, and the list grew to hundreds. People today are not much different. In India the Hindu people have listed over 3 million gods. Why all the gods?
Religion is a complex thing. People adhere to a religion for two basic reasons; fear and hope. Some out of fear of loss, or fear of death. Others adhere to religion out of hope; hope for a future, hope for prosperity, etc. Both of those reasons inspire people to keep looking for something better and more affective in realizing their purposes for believing.
God was calling Israel to faith in himself as the almighty; the one who stands alone. The challenge Israel had was they had difficulty believing that one God could do it all, and they had doubts as to whether the one God would come through with the promised blessings.
Israel’s challenge is mirrored in society today. Religious people today have difficulty putting all of their eggs in one basket, so to speak. People tend to use religion to secure their place in heaven, and some use it for social and other benefits, but they trust other entities for the rest of their life. There is the government, career, insurance, and all the entities of our life that we trust. What we trust becomes our God. We should discover who we trust.
Just as Israel was commanded to love and trust God with all of their heart, soul and strength, so we are challenged in the same way today. Love him, there is no other god.
 
Prayer: Lord, in times of fearfulness I tend to trust my own resources rather than to trust you. Grant me the grace to love and trust you above all things, even my own abilities. Let my fear be in reverence of you and let my hope be inspired by your love. Amen.
 
Message:  God is calling followers of Christ to faith in himself as the almighty; the one who stands alone. The challenge we have is believing God will come through with the promised blessings. We are challenged, as Israel, to love and trust God with all our heart, soul and strength. Love him, there is no other god.
 
Affirmation:   I understand that there is just one God and I am fully committed to him. He is the Lord God Almighty, and he is manifest to mankind through Jesus, the Christ.
 
Reflection:  This devotion speaks of how ancient peoples tended to ascribe to various gods the responsibility for much of what they faced in life. Do people today have gods in their life which take the place of Almighty God? 

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Tough Love Is Holding Myself Accountable
 
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.
- 1 Timothy 6:20
 
Paul loved Timothy as a son. In fact he calls him his “son in the gospel.” As a father he is concerned that Timothy does well. Paul had given Timothy the great responsibility of leading the church at Ephesus, and being a concerned father, in one place he instructed Timothy to carefully watch his life so that those who are older do not despise his youth. In this passage Paul is teaching Timothy to hold himself accountable to the gifts of ministry and responsibility that he had been given.
We often think of tough love as the love which holds others accountable, but tough love begins with ourselves. Do we love the other in our life enough to commit ourselves to accountability? Are we willing to guard our thoughts and examine them often to see if we are developing patterns of thinking that will affect the way we treat others? Paul warns Timothy to turn away from godless chatter and faulty arguments.
The Message has a great way of presenting this passage; “And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.”
Hold yourself accountable in your words and your thoughts. That’s a job that only you can do.
 
Prayer: Lord, I like to argue the fine points that sometimes get to the place of splitting hairs over inconsequential issues. Forgive me of that and grant me the grace to focus only on the truly important issues of the faith. Amen.
 
Message:   Tough love begins with ourselves. Do we love the other in our life enough to commit ourselves to accountability? Are we willing to guard our thoughts and examine them often to see if we are developing patterns of thinking that will affect the way we treat others?
 
Affirmation:   I hold myself accountable to God and responsible spiritual leaders so that my thoughts and actions do not contradict what I speak.
 
Reflection:  Does God’s love truly move us to accountability? What do you think the Message meant by, “Avoid the talk-show religion?” Give some thought to some signs that you might be avoiding accountability.

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​Love Never Fails
 
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. - 1 Corinthians 13:8
 
Love never fails. What a statement. In fact, it is a very challenging statement. Most of us can think of people that we once felt we loved then through a series of circumstances we came to the conclusion that we didn’t love them anymore. I’m not just talking about romantic relationships; I’m also talking about friendships that for one reason or other just fell apart.
In those cases, did love fail, or did we just fail to love? Many of us have prayed, “Lord, increase my love for you and others.” I’m not sure that can happen. Love either is or isn’t. Care and concern can be measured out, but I’m not sure love can be. If we don’t love anymore it is because we chose not to invest care and concern in the relationship anymore. Love hasn’t failed, we have failed to love.
Here is something to consider. When Paul relates that love never fails, he goes on to state that even spiritual gifts have a limit; at some point prophecies will cease, gifts of tongues and knowledge will cease but love will never cease. Paul wasn’t trying to define a time when these spiritual gifts would cease, but he was trying to remind us that our walk with God and work in the kingdom is not as much about our many gifts as it is about whether we love.
If we are not to become resounding gongs and clanging cymbals, then we are going to have to surrender to agape – God’s love. 
 
Prayer: Lord, too often I have focused on having a word to speak and have missed opportunities to love . Grant me a new baptism of love so that all that I do is bathed in your love. In Jesus name.
 
Message:  Love never fails. Even spiritual gifts have a limit; at some point prophecies will cease, gifts of tongues and knowledge will cease but love will never cease. In this writing Paul wasn’t trying to define a time when these spiritual gifts would cease, but he was trying to remind us that our walk with God and work in the kingdom is not as much about our many gifts as it is about whether we love
 
Affirmation:   I value spiritual gifts, but I also realize that unless those gifts are covered by God’s love they become meaningless.
 
Reflection:   Too many today seek spiritual gifts without giving much thought to how they love. Ask yourself if your motivation is to be “gifted” or is it to serve?


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Love Rejoices In The Truth
 
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. - 1 Corinthians 13:6
 
This characteristic of love is so obvious that it seems redundant to even address it. Yet, there is an aspect of it that we need to explore. It is not so much about being pleased, or taking delight in the evil others do as it is about not realizing the value of truth and holding those who are under your authority accountable to truth.
I have a friend who is as good as gold. She would help anyone who comes along with a need. But the problem is that she brings people into her house out of concern for them, knowing that they are in need because of their own behaviors, yet she doesn’t hold them accountable to what she knows they must do to secure a more productive life. She takes no joy in the truth. The consequence is chaos.
Most of us have had friends who would come around us and take delight in exposing the wrongs of others, or even making mistaken assumptions about the actions of others. We might not be happy about hearing it, but do we rejoice in correcting the person and speaking truth to them?
God is calling us to a walk which is not blind to evil, neither is it a walk that sees only the good – But he is calling us to a walk that clearly sees righteousness and that takes a stand for righteousness in a way which expresses God’s love. 
Jesus told us that if we follow him and become his disciples then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 831-32). When we delight in the truth and give no place to evil, then the fruit of our lives will be freedom.
 
Prayer: Lord, I do not want to have any kind of pleasure in evil. Not for myself or for anyone that I am able to influence.  Grant me the grace to treasure truth and to rejoice in it, even when the truth hurts. Amen
 
Message:   God is calling us to a walk which is not blind to evil, neither is it a walk that sees only the good – But he is calling us to a walk that clearly sees righteousness and that takes a stand for righteousness in a way which expresses the love of God. When we delight in the truth and give no place to evil, then the fruit of our lives will be freedom.
 
Affirmation:   I do not delight in evil and I do not fear evil, but I do delight in the truth and it is the truth which has set me free.
 
Reflection:  The message of this devotion is not just to avoid evil ourselves but to identify evil and combat it with the truth. How can you see truth defeating evil when so many seem to be prospering in their evil ways?

​CLICK HERE to get the entire month of devotions in the book, "Love"

Love… Calls Us To Obedience
 
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain his love. - John 15:12-14
 
I have seen literally hundreds of people make a prayer of profession as they are accepting Jesus as their Lord and savior. Sadly, I have seen less than ten percent of those professions produce fruit of repentance. Why is that? I think it is because they want the benefits of being in relationship, but they have not learned that relationship calls for commitment. Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love (or in relationship with me).”
Being in relationship requires a commitment to the one with whom we are in relationship.  A husband will give himself to blessing his wife, just as Christ gave himself for his own bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25). A father will give himself in labor, often at great sacrifice, to provide for his family.
Jesus used the word “commands,” and it is a good word because it tells us that love can sometimes be demanding. Not that love itself makes the demand, but our love commitment to the object of our love demands that we make sacrifices for the one that we love.  Love calls us to serve the object of our affection.
My hope for this month of devotions on the subject of love, and a particular focus on loving God, will draw you closer to Christ and call you to a greater commitment to serving the others in your life.
 
Prayer: Lord, I confess that I often come to you with selfish motives. Grant me the grace to experience your agape love that is focused on others rather than on myself. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message:  Being in relationship requires a commitment to the one with whom we are in relationship. Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain his love.” Loving God and obeying God are twin children of faith.
 
Affirmation:   I am committed to obeying the commands of God revealed through the teachings of Christ.
 
Reflection:  Give some thought to the idea that love must have an object of expression. How do you see yourself expressing love to those around you?

​  CLICK HERE to get the entire month of devotions in the book, "Love"