Bible Reading - Numbers 34, Psalm 78:40-72, Isaiah 26, 1 John 4
His Love, Our Challenge
God has been doing so many outstanding things at Urban since we started 16 months ago. We are hearing of powerful testimonies of miraculous healing, restored families and undeniable changes in peoples lives. All of these are such an answer to prayer and a blessing to hear about as a church planter. As I sit back and reflect and thank God for what He is doing I realize that those who's lives were changed the most were people we just loved on.
Love is such a powerful thing and not only is it what brought you and I into a relationship with Jesus Christ it is a challenge sent to us by Him who loves us the most. 1 John 4:9-12 says, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us". The love of God is what drew us in. We only love Him because He first loved us. It is His love for us that causes us to want to change and become that which He desires for us. This is His love for us!
In this verse not only is His love seen but His challenge for us is seen as well. "If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another". What John is saying is this, we not only need to love people because God loved us but we also need to love people with the same love in which He loved us. God loved us in the middle of our mess and in the middle of our sins. It was because He loved us the way we were that brought us out of our mess and sin. The challenge is for us to do the same. We must love people in the middle of their mess and their sin for this is the love of God and if we will do this people really will see the love of God through us and change. As I look at Urban today this is seen in so many people at Urban. There are so many people we just loved on and because we loved them knowing what their mess was, they are coming out of their mess. Love and mercy really do triumph over judgment (although please remember love does challenge as well).
This love that we are to have can not only be for those who are coming into a relationship with God but it must also be for those who are already in the church. Yes, we Christ followers blow it every now and then as well. The Holy Spirit spoke to me the other day and said, "Ben if you cannot love those you know now in the middle of their mess how can you love people you do not know in the middle of their mess?" Sometimes I struggle with loving those who are close to me when I see them in their mess. My first reaction is I want to confront and fix all their stuff, because I truly do love them. When they do not allow me to do this though my love turns to anger (just being transparent). Today though I feel challenged by God to believe that the same love that brought them in in the first place is the same kind of love that will bring them back again. I am learning to love.
I am so thankful for the Word of God today and for the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful that I am in process and that God is working on me. I pray that people will continue to believe in the way God has structured His glorious church and give people even pastors the ability to love them through every season of life. I am in process today are you?
His love has become my challenge today.
Tomorrows Bible Reading - Numbers 35, Psalm 79, Isaiah 27, 1 John 5
Dream Big
Ben
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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1 comment:
Good thoughts. I have a close family member that has continually went back to sin, because I love her so much it angers me every time she messes up. I have had to learn to process the anger but still love her like Christ does. Not easy!
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