I'm always so saddened to go to funerals, extra especially the ones for loved ones. This week, I attended the funeral of a brother in Christ. He will be so missed by his family and friends!
I am looking forward to being reunited with Christians who have passed on in paradise. But even more than that, I am looking forward to heaven, where there will be no more pain, death, or mourning.
Showing posts with label feelings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feelings. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Agape Love
In the Bible, there are several kinds of love. I once heard a description of agape love that really stuck with me. Agape love is deciding to give of ourselves for the good of the other person and expecting nothing in return.
This is definitely something that is missing in lots of marriages today. This is one of the things the Love Dare is all about. Putting this kind of love into practice has put many Christian counselors into business! But this is also missing in friendships and how we treat other Christians. It's not one of those character traits we can choose to ignore.
It's a decision, not an emotion. You don't have warm fuzzy feelings about your enemy, but we're told to love them. Matthew 5:43-44, 46 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you... For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? Just like we're told to love our neighbors. Sometimes our neighbors aren't the nicest people. Matthew 19:19b - Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Romans 13:10 - Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
This is the love we should have for all Christians. John 13:34-35 - A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. I Peter 2:17 - Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
We should be willing to go the distance. John 15:12-13, 17 - This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends... These things I command you, that ye love one another. We will get out of our comfort zone and help one another out and serve one another. Galatians 5:13 - For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 1 John 3:16-18 - Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
This is how a husband is supposed to love his wife. You can read the whole chapter, but the verses specifically on this are Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33 - Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it... So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself... Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Colossians 3:19 - Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Agape love is how God loves us and how we are to love Him. These verses sum it up better than I can. 1 John 4:7-12, 16-21 - Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we 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 ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us... And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
With Valentine's Day right around the corner, perhaps we should focus more on developing agape love in our lives rather than on the chocolate and roses aspect of it all.
This is definitely something that is missing in lots of marriages today. This is one of the things the Love Dare is all about. Putting this kind of love into practice has put many Christian counselors into business! But this is also missing in friendships and how we treat other Christians. It's not one of those character traits we can choose to ignore.
It's a decision, not an emotion. You don't have warm fuzzy feelings about your enemy, but we're told to love them. Matthew 5:43-44, 46 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you... For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? Just like we're told to love our neighbors. Sometimes our neighbors aren't the nicest people. Matthew 19:19b - Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Romans 13:10 - Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
This is the love we should have for all Christians. John 13:34-35 - A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. I Peter 2:17 - Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
We should be willing to go the distance. John 15:12-13, 17 - This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends... These things I command you, that ye love one another. We will get out of our comfort zone and help one another out and serve one another. Galatians 5:13 - For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 1 John 3:16-18 - Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
This is how a husband is supposed to love his wife. You can read the whole chapter, but the verses specifically on this are Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33 - Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it... So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself... Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Colossians 3:19 - Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Agape love is how God loves us and how we are to love Him. These verses sum it up better than I can. 1 John 4:7-12, 16-21 - Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we 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 ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us... And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
With Valentine's Day right around the corner, perhaps we should focus more on developing agape love in our lives rather than on the chocolate and roses aspect of it all.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Being Beautiful
My dh asked me last night if there was anything special I wanted for my birthday. I thought about it for a long time, and I don't think I ever came up with anything I could tell him. Being pregnant and, well, rather whale-shaped, I have decided if I could have anything I wanted for my birthday, I would like to feel absolutely, stunningly beautiful. Don't get me wrong - he tells me I'm pretty and all that sweet stuff. I just want to be able to look in the mirror and feel pretty. Or leave my house and not feel like a cow just getting in and out of the car. And it's not that I dislike being pregnant or want it over with. There are beautiful pregnant women out there. Just not me.
So after feeling sorry for myself for a while, I figured I'd better pull myself together and consult the manual. What does the Bible have to say about being beautiful and attractive?
The famous woman of Proverbs 31 teaches us that seeking physical beauty is vain in verse 30 - Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Instead, we are to fear the Lord.
Beauty can be only skin deep. Matthew 23:27 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. We can't be hypocrites and be truly beautiful. God knows how we really are, even if we manage to fool everyone else. We can't fool God.
Romans 10:15 says the feet of those who bring the Gospel of peace to others are beautiful. It won't make my swelling ankles go away, but it will make them beautiful in God's eyes.
Psalm 149: 4 - For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. This verse goes even further and states that we become beautiful through salvation. We are all sinners and in need of salvation to be beautiful to God. We are to worship God in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2 - Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.) We're told to be holy many times (I Peter 1:16 - Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.), but now we find it makes us beautiful too.
There are other verses along the same vein all throughout the Bible, but the message is clear. Seeking after physical beauty is a waste of time. I guess some people are blessed with it and others are not. What I should be spending my time on is making myself spiritually beautiful and sharing that with as many as I can.
So what am I going to tell my dh I want for my birthday? I really have no idea. Do you?
So after feeling sorry for myself for a while, I figured I'd better pull myself together and consult the manual. What does the Bible have to say about being beautiful and attractive?
The famous woman of Proverbs 31 teaches us that seeking physical beauty is vain in verse 30 - Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Instead, we are to fear the Lord.
Beauty can be only skin deep. Matthew 23:27 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. We can't be hypocrites and be truly beautiful. God knows how we really are, even if we manage to fool everyone else. We can't fool God.
Romans 10:15 says the feet of those who bring the Gospel of peace to others are beautiful. It won't make my swelling ankles go away, but it will make them beautiful in God's eyes.
Psalm 149: 4 - For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. This verse goes even further and states that we become beautiful through salvation. We are all sinners and in need of salvation to be beautiful to God. We are to worship God in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2 - Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.) We're told to be holy many times (I Peter 1:16 - Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.), but now we find it makes us beautiful too.
There are other verses along the same vein all throughout the Bible, but the message is clear. Seeking after physical beauty is a waste of time. I guess some people are blessed with it and others are not. What I should be spending my time on is making myself spiritually beautiful and sharing that with as many as I can.
So what am I going to tell my dh I want for my birthday? I really have no idea. Do you?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Holy Spirit or Feelings
I get so frustrated when people try to say the Holy Spirit is telling them to do something that is so obviously just what they want to do! I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit doesn't work in our lives, but the Holy Spirit is never going to cause someone to do something that is contrary to the Scriptures! He CAN'T. A person can feel somthing is right that isn't. Or feelings can be based on someone's like or dislike of someone else. It's even possible for someone to be past feeling (Ephesians 4:19). Our consciences can be seared so we don't feel guilt (I Timothy 4:2). Feelings can't be equated with the urgings of the Holy Spirit.
Feelings can be wrong. Look at Saul in Acts 26:9-11. He was definitely sincere, but he was also as definitely wrong. What about suicide bombers? Even I can see they are sincere. But they are still wrong.
Sometimes feelings are right. Sometimes people have a valid reason for feeling right about something. Like when we abide in the doctrine of Christ (II John 9), we can know we have the approval of the Father and the Son because God's word is reliable. If we don't abide in Christ's doctrine, we don't have God's approval, no matter how much we "feel" we do.
Feelings are so often emphasized in religious activities, particularly if a preacher is good at getting people emotional and excited. People get on an emotional high, because of their feelings. When one does God's will, that one has a right to feel right, but when one feels right apart from having done God's will, that one is dead wrong, and deceived by his feelings. What people feel in their heart is often more important to them than what God says. Have you ever heard the phrase: "I wouldn't take what I feel in my heart for a stack of Bibles as high as my head." Hmmm...
What about feeling saved? Can you just "feel" you are? Some people feel they are saved whether or not they have obeyed the gospel. I would rather die knowing! Paul says that faith comes by the hearing of God's word (Romans 10:17). If we are ignorant of God's absolute truth, then we can't know what God's will is for man. Some support homosexuality, when it is very specifically and forcefully condemned in the Bible. Some people know the truth and just don't respect it. Have you ever heard: "I know it says that, but I just don't believe it." In general, people don't love the truth (John 3:19). Can our feelings of being saved be based on a personal experience? A dream? A sign? This is not taught in the Bible at all. It doesn't matter what anyone teaches you (even your mother or a preacher) if it is not in accordance with the Bible. Some teach a salvation by faith only. In other words, all that is necessary is to believe. James said that by works a man is justified, not by faith only (James 2:24). Having been taught that faith only is all that is necesary to please God, it is easy to understand how one would feel his is saved. Even the demons believed and trembled (James 2:19). Were they saved? Where is it taught in the Bible that if you just ask Jesus to save you right where you are, you will be saved immediately? It isn't.
The Bible is very clear on salvation.
It has become very popular to look for entertainment when searching for the "right church." Entertainment is all about appealing to feelings. People like that good feeling they get from being entertained. I've even heard a preacher say people should feel good about themselves. It's not bad to have good feelings, but place your faith in God's word rather than feelings that may or may not have any basis in truth.
Feelings can be wrong. Look at Saul in Acts 26:9-11. He was definitely sincere, but he was also as definitely wrong. What about suicide bombers? Even I can see they are sincere. But they are still wrong.
Sometimes feelings are right. Sometimes people have a valid reason for feeling right about something. Like when we abide in the doctrine of Christ (II John 9), we can know we have the approval of the Father and the Son because God's word is reliable. If we don't abide in Christ's doctrine, we don't have God's approval, no matter how much we "feel" we do.
Feelings are so often emphasized in religious activities, particularly if a preacher is good at getting people emotional and excited. People get on an emotional high, because of their feelings. When one does God's will, that one has a right to feel right, but when one feels right apart from having done God's will, that one is dead wrong, and deceived by his feelings. What people feel in their heart is often more important to them than what God says. Have you ever heard the phrase: "I wouldn't take what I feel in my heart for a stack of Bibles as high as my head." Hmmm...
What about feeling saved? Can you just "feel" you are? Some people feel they are saved whether or not they have obeyed the gospel. I would rather die knowing! Paul says that faith comes by the hearing of God's word (Romans 10:17). If we are ignorant of God's absolute truth, then we can't know what God's will is for man. Some support homosexuality, when it is very specifically and forcefully condemned in the Bible. Some people know the truth and just don't respect it. Have you ever heard: "I know it says that, but I just don't believe it." In general, people don't love the truth (John 3:19). Can our feelings of being saved be based on a personal experience? A dream? A sign? This is not taught in the Bible at all. It doesn't matter what anyone teaches you (even your mother or a preacher) if it is not in accordance with the Bible. Some teach a salvation by faith only. In other words, all that is necessary is to believe. James said that by works a man is justified, not by faith only (James 2:24). Having been taught that faith only is all that is necesary to please God, it is easy to understand how one would feel his is saved. Even the demons believed and trembled (James 2:19). Were they saved? Where is it taught in the Bible that if you just ask Jesus to save you right where you are, you will be saved immediately? It isn't.
The Bible is very clear on salvation.
- Faith in God (Hebrews 11:6)
- Repentance of sins (Acts 11:30, Luke 13:3)
- Confession of faith in Christ (Romans 10:10)
- Baptism into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38)
- Live faithfully until death (Revelation 2:10)
It has become very popular to look for entertainment when searching for the "right church." Entertainment is all about appealing to feelings. People like that good feeling they get from being entertained. I've even heard a preacher say people should feel good about themselves. It's not bad to have good feelings, but place your faith in God's word rather than feelings that may or may not have any basis in truth.
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