Love is a powerful word! Just "fall in love" with something and you are overtaken!
Love is freely poured out on stuff and things, people and places, and the primary focus of all that love, is self.
Frequently the love meter is measuring not what we love, but what loving does for us...love ice cream to satisfy the sweet tooth!! You see where this is going.
We seem to have this love thing figured out, don't we...at least in terms of love that meets a need in ourselves.
Jesus turns our focus in a different direction when He responds to question meant to trip him up...after all, aren't all the commandments most important?
Jesus gave the perfect answer and I wonder what the one who received the answer did with it. Loving to meet our own needs is easy...but to set aside self and focus love on God, now that is a radical command.
How will you apply these words in your life today?
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV)
The start of a new school year is drawing closer, a glance at the calendar confirms that July is nearly over and August brings the opening of school doors!!! School teachers across our region may already be in their classrooms preparing for the new class of learners. Thank you.
My daughter is a teacher preparing to start this year in a new school with a focus on project based learning...a method near and dear to my heart!!! She has devoted her summer to meeting with the team of teachers in preparation for upcoming year. A sacrifice of time and talent willingly and eagerly made to order insure the success of their students. Thank you.
Few people truly understand the sacrifices teachers make in order to teach to change lives and help others be the best they can be! If you take a few moments to think about your learning experiences, I'm sure a favorite teacher will come to mind!
Teachers deserve a big Thank You for their service. At the Tabernacle of Praise (www.hurricanechurch.com) this Sunday, teachers will be honored for their sacrifice and dedication. Now would be a great time for you also to express thanks to the educational community in your area...find a way to say Thank you!
While many have answered to call to teach in the classroom setting, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to be teachers of His ways in the classroom of life.
Answering that call may include teaching within discipling arm of your church or finding ways to teach your children God's Word during family devotions. We should alway be teaching and reaching out to others by the way we live out life, setting an example, just like Jesus did...
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. (Psalms 51:10-13 NKJV)
I would like to take time to say thank you to the many teachers in my life, including those within my own family, and especially give honor to my "first teachers," my mom and dad. Both were 1st class educators in their fields, loved and respected by many. I am forever grateful to them for more than I can express here...thank you seems both inadequate and appropriate. Thank you.
Last week, a talented 5 year old tap danced and sang on a stage before a live audience and thousands of TV viewers. A confident performer, to say the least. She "wowed" the judges, one who was quick to compare her to American's sweetheart, Shirley Temple. He even suggested that a little bit of Shirley Temple might be "in her." She quickly set the judge straight "Not Shirley Temple! Jesus!" She didn't hesitate, not for a second. Her name, Heavenly Joy. I stood up and clapped, not for her amazing talent (although it was certainly impressive), but for her acknowledging Jesus Christ. She didn't care that she was about to be judged for her performance with a chance for million dollars on the line, she just had to set the record straight with emphatic clarity....Jesus was in her, not Shirley Temple. A lesson for all of us who claim to be Christians, followers of Jesus. Shouldn't all Christians, those who claim to follow Jesus, do the same?
"Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. AND YOU ARE WITNESSES to these things..." John 24:46-47
"And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. GO THEREFORE and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye SHALL BE WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8
A child stood on the stage and in no uncertain terms, witnessed to millions. Those who follow Christ, should do the same thing, every day. Our response should be as quick and precise as her simple words. Our lives should be an outward witness of the work Jesus accomplished in us and we should be ready to tell what Jesus has done for us.
Thank you, Heavenly Joy, for your witness and reminder to me, that I should do the same.
"...CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27
Here's the link to view Heavenly Joy's performance...
A beautiful azure sky, bright sun and a parade of cottony clouds causing the hide and seek affect on the sunlight. We were sitting outside, watching the clouds as they moved quickly across the sliver of sky we could see from the covered porch. As the clouds moved away, the sun came out and the brightness was dramatic, an explosion of light over the area darkened by the shadow of the clouds...and at that moment Dad said, "There's the yellow."
We need to be like "the yellow." The bright light that crowds out the shadows...the explosion of light in the dark place...a light so noticeable and exciting that even one who can no longer find the right word to define it...knows the light made things change.
Be the light in your world today!
"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life." John 8:19
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16
