Faith, hope & love.. but the greatest of these is love

"There are not thousands of religions in the world, but only two", states Dr. Robert Jeffress in his book titled 'Hell? Yes!' He continues on to say: "All of the other religions of the world are spelled 'd-o'. Regardless of its label, every other religion tells us what we must 'do' to earn God's favor. But Christianity is spelled 'd-o-n-e.' The foundation of the gospel is not what we do for God, but what God has already done for us in sending His Son to atone for our sins."

Yes, our salvation is a gift from God because of God's unconditional love for us. Only Christianity makes that claim!

I'm listing only a few of the 400+ Bible verses on 'love':

1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'

1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us."

Luke 6:27-28 Jesus said: "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

Mark 12:31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

John 8:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Romans 12:9 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."

Romans 13:10 "Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

1 John 4:7 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 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."

Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Ephesians 5:33 "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

Colossians 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your rewards will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."

For more on "love", read the "New Testament" of your "Bible" :-)

God Bless,
Lucine

A beacon in darkest times...

Time is short... What are we doing for God's Kingdom? Are we being a beacon or idling in our comfy zone?

Acts 20:35 "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

John 9:4-5 Jesus said, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world," Jesus told His followers in the Sermon on the Mount. "A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

We should get out of our complacency and reach out to people just like Jesus did! Let's not be content with where we are in our comfy-zone and our own cirlce of friends! Let's reach out to the helpless, hungry, deceived, poor, sick, hopeless, confused, lonely, tired and torn. Let's be Jesus' hands and feet and share the good news wherever we go... and let's do it all in love and compassion one person at a time.

We have it a lot easier than Jesus' disciples. They had to walk from town to town to share the free gift of salvation. We on the other hand, are the privileged generation. We can reach people within seconds. This has been made possible by TV, radio, missionaries, Bible offerings and translations and other high-tech communication systems. So what is our excuse? Is it because we are too busy or we don't know what to say or is it because we are ashamed to claim Jesus? We can come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid doing what Jesus instructed us to do, however, our excuses are worldly excuses based on our emotions and fears of what people might think or say. We need to start looking beyond feelings and emotions! We need to focus on facts! This is about our salvation! Based on the choices we make here on earth, we'll set the future! We will be either in heaven with Jesus or in eternal darkness separated from Jesus (the Light of the world). The choice is ours!

Jesus said that the end won't come until the gospel is preached to every corner of the world. It's a big possibility that this could happen in our lifetime considering the high-speed communication tools we have. Also, the Bible prophesies are being unfolded one by one. Although we may not know the exact day and time of our Lord's return, we need to prepare ourselves and others. God wants ALL His children to be saved!

Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Romans 3:10–11 "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God."

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned."As followers of Jesus, we get the urge to tell people about Him because there is no higher motive to do so than the love of God. Let us daily saturate ourselves with Biblical wisdom so we know how to share our faith with others openly and wisely. There is a way which seems right to man, but it leads to death and darkness. People ignore the fact that the love of God, His ways and His standards are pure and higher than ours!

1 Peter 3:15 "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

2 Corinthians 5:14 "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."

Proverbs 14:12-13 "There's a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again, it leads straight to death. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in grief."

Let's share the truth with people and let's educate them. Being good and doing good deeds, volunteering, being ethical, and morality are all good, but not knowing Jesus or not accepting Him as our Lord and Savior is not going to get us to Heaven! The Bible makes it very clear that no amount of good works will save us! If we could get to heaven based on our good works alone, then Jesus' crucifixion was in vain! It is God's unconditional love for ALL His children that lead Jesus to that cross! Christians celebrate Easter every year, but how many people actually know or remind their children the 'true' meaning behind Easter? More emphasis is placed on coloring eggs, candies and bunnies rather than the cross, and when I say "cross", don't focus on Jesus' death, but on HIS Resurrection - because that's the Hope of eternal life with Jesus!

John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of Jesus."

The cross should be our everyday reminder that we were not created to live for ourselves, but to live for Him!

Jesus said: "The one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out. Come now, and let us reason together... Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool."

Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven: "Write this," it said. "Blessed are the dead who die as believers in the Lord from now on." Yes, says the Holy Spirit. "They will rest from their labor. What they have done will not be forgotten."

God is not asking too much from us. He knows that we're all sinners and He knows our limits and capabilities. Unless we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, there's no way we can make it to heaven. The only things that God requires of us is to confess our sins, to ask for forgiveness, to believe that Jesus is the only Way, the Truth and the Life and that there's NO other way to God except through Jesus. That's it!

We need to reach out and share the good news with everyone we come in contact with and make a difference for God's Kingdom. We can affect our everlasting destiny by learning the Bible and teaching it to others. God wants 'ALL' His children to be saved. So it's up to us, we can continue to live for ourselves or we can become a beacon to a dark world!

God Bless,
Lucine