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Delight and Rejoice in Truth
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” I Corinthians 13:6
Delight here refers to someone who is euphoric or overjoyed. Evil refers to an injustice or something that is bad. Rejoice is the same word as delight. It’s about being pumped for your life about seeing the truth prevail.
This verse is a serious heart check: What’s your reaction to something bad happening to someone you don’t like or someone who has hurt you? How about when something good happens to that person?
We’ve all been hurt. But doing a happy dance when someone else’s world gets rocked or their ship is sinking is unacceptable. It is also not okay to be stomping your feet and screaming about how unfair it all is when someone else’s life is sailing smooth.
Love says we are to encourage those who are down and pray for them. Love says we are to rejoice when others are blessed.
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” Matthew 5:44-46
Keep No Records
“Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” I Corinthians 13:5
Record in the Greek actually comes from an accounting term that means to count or reckon. It literally means to credit to someone’s account. It brings to mind someone who painstakingly keeps track of every single thing someone does to them. It is the exact opposite of forgiveness.
When God forgives us, He forgets what we’ve done. He sees us pure, holy, worthy, accepted and beloved. He separates our sin from us as far as the East is from the West, Psalm 103:11-12 tells us: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Since this is God’s attitude and policy of forgiveness, we need to not only forgive others but also erase their actions from their account. Once we’ve been forgiven our sins/mistakes/screw ups/etc are covered in the blood of Jesus and God remembers them no more. (Hebrews 8:12 & 10:17 and Jeremiah 31). Since God forgives and forgets, so should we.
This includes forgiving yourself!
I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to forgive someone else for what they’ve done to me than it is to forgive myself for the things I’ve done. I tend to remind God what I’ve done and try to disqualify myself from what He’s trying to do in me or for me. But God expects us to let go of the past and move forward. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians that He may not be there yet, but he’s pressing to get there. “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:13-14
Before he was saved on the road to Damascus, Paul was responsible for the imprisonment and deaths of disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. He could never undo what he had done. But when He accepted Jesus, his past was washed away by the blood. He was a new man. If Paul had focused on his past, and beat himself up over and over again, how could he have written 2/3 of the New Testament and reached the people he did? Truth is he couldn’t have.
So make a decision today to let go of the past and forgive those you are holding things against. Including yourself. Burn those ledgers. Move on. When the enemy tries to remind you of your past, choose to ignore him and instead speak this. “I am forgiven because of Jesus’ sacrifice, that mistake/sin is under the blood of Jesus. I am a child of the Most High God, and He loves me with an everlasting love. I have a hope and a future. I was called before the foundation of the world. I will forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead. I will press on to reach the end. I will not quit.”
Happy Wednesday!
Note: We really are called to forgive and forget BUT there are times when people have broken your trust beyond repair. You still must forgive them, for your own sake, but you do not have to repair and restore the relationship. If the relationship is hazardous to your physical person or if that person talks down to you and makes you feel bad about yourself, you don’t have to allow that person in your life. You have the right to end that relationship. God does not want you to be mistreated, taken advantaged of, or abused.
Not Easily Provoked
“Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” I Corinthians 13:5
Love is not easily provoked into anger.
This one’s a toughie for those with a short fuse or a temper. It’s especially tough when dealing with someone close to you who knows exactly how to push the right buttons to fire you right up. Interestingly enough anger here actually is a compound word in the Greek. One word is alongside. The other is to stir. Picture someone purposely coming alongside of you and poking you with a sharp stick until you can’t take it anymore and blow up, that’s what the word means in the original Greek.
Anger is a secondary emotion. This means that it always starts as another feeling before it grows into anger. Diffusing anger requires dealing with the source emotion. When you do that, the anger dissipates. What are the sources of anger?
Fear
Frustration
Hurt
Anger can also come from unforgiveness, but usually one of the above three are the culprit.
When you feel anger beginning to build, take a deep breath. Then ask yourself: Am I hurt? Am I afraid? Am I frustrated? Then deal work on dealing with the root of the anger. Don’t allow yourself to be provoked into a verbal explosion or a physical fight. If possible remove yourself from the situation or the person poking and prodding you, even if it’s just for a few minutes to calm down.
This is the Jill translation of this verse: Love bites one’s tongue and controls one’s temper. Love does not explode into a verbal explosion of harsh words and obscenities. Love doesn’t punch someone’s lights out because it is hurt, afraid or frustrated.
Jill will continue to work on this. 🙂 Happy Wednesday!
Bonus Scripture: “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.” Proverbs 22:24-25
Deep Thought Thursday: Forgiven Much
Deep Thought of the Day: Those who are forgiven much, love much.
Earlier this week I read this verse, “God rescued me from the grave and now my life is filled with light.” Job 33:28 NLT
It moved me greatly and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. You see, I know very well who I was before God and what He has done for me. I know where I’d be without Him. I’ve been forgiven much and I am grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice and the grace of God. I’ve done some really really stupid things. I won’t illustrate because I don’t want to give anyone any ideas. But suffice to say that I’ve been forgiven much.
Not everyone understands why I love God and why I talk about His love all the time. Why I post about it on FB, Twitter and here on my blog. Why I am willing to be obedient to what He asks, even when I don’t really want to be. Well the reason is that those who are forgiven much, love much.
There’s an example of forgiven much and love much from Luke 7:36-50. It’s the story of the woman anointing Jesus’ feet. This is in the Amplified Version.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, and He went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the town who was an especially wicked sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment (perfume). And standing behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears; and she wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet [affectionately] and anointed them with the ointment (perfume).
Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, If this Man were a prophet, He would surely know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him—for she is a notorious sinner (a social outcast, devoted to sin).
And Jesus, replying, said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
And he answered, “teacher, say it.”
“A certain lender of money [at interest] had two debtors: one owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they had no means of paying, he freely forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered, “The one, I take it, for whom he forgave and cancelled more.”
And Jesus said to him, “You have decided correctly.”
Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she from the moment I came in has not ceased [intermittently] to kiss My feet tenderly and caressingly. You did not anoint My head with [cheap, ordinary] oil, but she has anointed My feet with [costly, rare] perfume. Therefore I tell you, her sins, many [as they are], are forgiven her—because she has loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little.”
And He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven!”
Then those who were at table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this Who even forgives sins”?
But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go (enter) into peace [in freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin].”
This story always brings tears to my eyes and touches my heart every time. We don’t know what happened to her to send her on this path of sin. But I suspect she was very broken. Very hurt. Most likely she had never met anyone who treated her with respect or showed her love without strings. He didn’t want anything from her. He didn’t use her. He didn’t judge her. He loved her. And it permanently changed her in the way only love can. He looked at her and called her forgiven. He looked at her and said go in peace. That word peace is the Greek Word, eirene. When applied to the salvation of the Messiah, Jesus, it actually means the way that leads to peace and salvation. It’s the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ. Can you imagine looking into the compassionate eyes of Jesus Himself and hearing those words? The truth is that is exactly how He feels about you! And me!
I love all the stories about how Jesus related to and loved women. He was so gracious. So respectful. So kind. His motives were pure and brotherly and He valued the women He met. He saw them beautiful and precious just like His Father does. We women are precious to God, even in our broken state. This is why for the rest of my life I will love Him. I will obey because I love Him and I know He only has my good in mind. I will worship and praise every day, because He rescued me and filled my life with light. I have so much to be grateful for, and that I cannot stop worshipping. And I don’t want to!
Here’s Big Daddy Weave’s “Redeemed” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSyLqbP8Z4I
Self-Seeking?
“Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” I Corinthians 13:5
The Greek word here for seek refers to seeking something in order to find it. It’s not about seeking just for seeking’s sake. It’s seeking with purpose.
The question to me is, if love doesn’t seek self, what does it seek? God seeks the lost. He seeks us. So what should we seek? Well, I’m just going to let Jesus take this one. Here are 6 verses about what to seek from Jesus Himself.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 (Same words are also found in Matthew 7:7-8)
“Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Luke 17:33
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” John 5:30
“If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.” John 7:18-19
Jesus is our example on what to seek. Jesus sought God first and foremost. From that Jesus sought His kingdom and for God’s will to be done here on planet Earth. He sought to copy what He saw God doing. He sought to speak God’s word. He sought to worship God in spirit and in truth. And he sought for God get the glory for everything good that He did. Wow! humility+love=Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJtKdjaH2nY
This link is to “So Long Self” by MercyMe. It doesn’t exactly fit the topic, but I’m posting it anyway just because I like it.
Love Honors
“Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” I Corinthians 13:5
Love does not dishonor others. The word for dishonor can also be translated unseemingly or unbecomingly. It refers to someone who does not regard the thoughts or feelings of others. It can refer to someone who doesn’t give a crap about anyone else’s thoughts or feelings they just do and say what they want. It includes how they talk to and how they treat others. It brings to mind users and abusers of any kind.
The only other time in the entire NT this word is used is I Corinthians 7:36 where Paul tells men to act honorably toward their fiancées. Telling them to marry them rather than to dishonor them. “But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin,”
If love doesn’t dishonor people it must honor people. Right? Right! What does honor mean? Honor means honesty, fairness, sincerity or integrity. Giving someone honor refers to showing them high respect or to giving a courteous regard for them. It’s doing the right thing, because it’s the right thing.
What does honor look like? Giving honor to people is simple because it’s just treating others respectfully and living with integrity. Holding doors open. Not interrupting. Not texting or taking phone calls when you’re at lunch with someone. It’s letting people out in front of you on the road. Honor is keeping your word and showing up on time. Honor is using your manners and saying please and thank you. It’s standing in respect and removing your hat for our National Anthem. It’s respecting your elders and thanking veterans for their service.
By giving honor and showing respect, you are in fact loving people. Simple Right?
Pastor Dino on Honor: http://vimeo.com/68003954
STP (Something to Ponder)…The first commandment from God with a promise attached is found in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your mother and your father, so that you may live long in the land the Lord God is giving you.” God linked a long life with honoring your parents. Hmmmm.
This Is Me
Musical Monday’s song of the day is “This Is Me” as sung by the lovely and talented Demi Lovato in Disney’s Camp Rock. Take a listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwdr_pWBigw
The reason I love this song is because it’s about someone realizing who she really is. I think everyone can relate to that. As I’ve gone through my healing process with God, He’s been showing me who I really am. Who He made me to be. Not what people spoke over me. Not what I tried to be based on what everyone thought of me. But me. The child of the Most High God. The one He created with purpose before the foundation of the world.
A man much wiser than me once told me, “Jilly, it’s not about what you do. It’s not about your “ministry.” It’s about being who God made you to be. When you finally embrace and become who He made you to be, everything will flow naturally from that.”
At the time I was like WHAT the heck does that mean? Now I get it. Until I saw myself from God’s perspective. Until I allowed God to heal me and restore me. Until I let go of what people have said to me and told me and called me and believed about me. Until I can fully embrace who I was created to be, the real me, I will not be able fully receive what God has for me.
Knowing who you are is essential. Knowing whose you are is essential.
Do you know that YOU are the Beloved of God? Not just loved, but beloved. Adored.
Do you know that God calls you good? Everything He created He calls good. He knows your potential, what you are capable of, and your strengths. He also knows your weaknesses and what things you’ll need Him to do for you. And He loves you even when you screw up and fall down and make a huge mess. His love never wavers or changes. Jeremiah 31:1, “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”
You may be thinking, but you don’t know what I’ve done. You’re right there. But most of you don’t know what I’ve done either. And since God loves me, I know He loves you too. He’s not a respecter of persons. What He’ll do for one, He’ll do for all.
You may be thinking that you are a mistake or that you weren’t wanted. Maybe you have a parent that deserted you. Maybe you were the product of a bad relationship, a rape, a one-night stand. Maybe you were given up for adoption. Maybe you were the product of an affair. Maybe you’ve been rejected or abandoned by those who should have loved and protected you. To all of you I want to tell you what God told me:
“I can turn around any situation. Resurrection and restoration are My specialties. I bring life out of death. I bring good from bad. You are the good that I worked out of your parent’s bad relationship. I saw their decisions. Both the wise and unwise decisions. You may have been a surprise to them. But you were not a surprise to me. I knew you before I created the world. I knew what your parents would choose. And you, you my precious daughter, are the good I created from that bad situation. You are the life I brought from death.”
This revelation. This message. Changed. Everything. It rocked me to my core. I always thought I was a mistake that should not have been born. Since I was a mistake God’s promises for a good plan and purpose didn’t apply to me. I truly believed that I had to take what was left. Scraps. That there was no good plan for me because I was not meant to be. That’s truly what I thought. Those thoughts were LIES from an enemy who hates me. Not from the God who loves me. God said, that He planned me before the foundation of the world! I was planned and chosen and known before God even created land on the planet Earth! I matter to God.
And guess what? So were you and so do you! You are made in His image and you matter to Him. Who you are is beautiful! Who you are is unique! So why would you want to be anything other than who He created you to be?
This is truth. Receive it. Believe it. Accept it. Speak it.
Wonderful Wednesday: Love is not proud
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud” I Corinthians 13:4
God isn’t puffed up in pride. Look at Jesus. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. Ultimate humility shown by ultimate power. That’s love.
“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”John 13:1-9 (NLT)
To sum it all up, choosing to serve in humility is the action of love and the opposite of pride.
Wonderful Wednesday: Love is not Boastful
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud” I Corinthians 13:4
God doesn’t need to boast. He’s God! He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He’s not insecure. God does not suffer from low self esteem. He created everything and everything belongs to Him. Read Genesis 1 or Job 38-39 for a reminder of just HOW BIG our God is.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Job 38:4-6 NKJV
I don’t know about you…but that makes me want to bow down in reverence. God is awesome.
But the kicker of all this is that as big as He is. As mighty and powerful as He is. He still loves us. He still wants a relationship with us. Blows me away.
Wonderful Wednesday-Love Does Not Envy
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;” I Corinthians 13:4
Envy here refers to someone being heated to a boil due to envy, hatred or anger.
God has never been motivated by envy, hatred or anger. He may get angry, but anger doesn’t drive Him. He’s motivated by compassion. His motives are pure. God sent Jesus simply because He saw our condition and knew we were helpless to save ourselves. How do we know this? Romans 5:8 tells us that, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” We didn’t deserve it, but He did it anyway.
We also see that same compassion in the life of Jesus also. Both Matthew and Mark tell us Jesus was “moved with compassion” to heal and teach. (Matthew 9:36 & 14:14 and Mark 1:41 & 6:34).
Jesus learned this compassion from the Father. In John 5:19, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
Jesus is our head and we are His body, so we need to be motivated by compassion too. Genuine love for one another. The action love that speaks truth, but covers people. The action love that assists some one but doesn’t coddle them or allow excuses. Love should MOVE us to help someone who is struggling. Love should MOVE us to pray for those around us. Love should MOVE us to come along side people and encourage them.
When I find that my motivations are wrong or I find myself simmering and about to boil, I take a step back. I breathe deep and I try to figure out what’s the root of my issue. Am I afraid? Am I hurt? Am I frustrated? Am I feeling discontented or feeling a resentful longing because of someone else’s position, possessions, qualities or attributes (envy)? Am I full of intense dislike or have ill will towards another person (hatred)? Am I desirous of revenge or full of a desire to fight back (angry*)?
Sometimes I can figure it out. Sometimes I can’t. Either way I take it to the Father in prayer. I ask Him to help me to diffuse the situation and respond in love. Sometimes this is a simple under my breath prayer, that is handled immediately. Sometimes it’s deeper and takes longer. Like a broken place that needs to be healed or a mindset that needs to be changed. Whether the issue is big or small, God is big enough to take care of it. God is Yahweh Rophe. He is healing. He heals broke hearts along with broken bodies. He wants His people to be fully healed and whole.
Are you dealing with anger, hatred or envy? The first step in dealing with those things is prayer, asking God to help.
Just as important as prayer is, is receiving God’s love. It is absolutely essential that you believe He loves you and actually accept His love. Without you receiving His love, you won’t have any love to give to anyone else. You cannot give something that you don’t have.
For more on God’s love…check out this message on the God Kind of Love from Pastor Dino Lasala: https://vimeo.com/album/1518523/video/65513155
*PS Anger is actually a secondary emotion. It usually comes from hurt, fear or frustration. When you feel anger rising, ask yourself if you are hurt, afraid or frustrated. (Or a combination of the above). When you deal with the root, either the fear or the hurt or the frustration, the anger will go away.
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