Do You LOVE as Jesus LOVES?

 

Hey Gang, Continuing our Love theme, I felt this Devotional 2-12-21 from Mornings with Jesus needed to be shared.

 “…Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.  And the greatest of these is Love.” I Corinthians 13:13  ( The Message)

      I can’t remember the first time I realized that Jesus expects us to LOVE as He does -- unconditionally, extravagantly, audaciously.  It was probably a thought floating somewhere within the pool of information I been introduced to in Sunday School and then further developed through Bible studies and sermons in my early adult years. In My journey to know Jesus better, I stopped imagining Him as simply really, really skilled at loving people and instead realized His brand of LOVE was in a class by itself.

       Part of that dawning on the subject of Jesus’ LOVE happened just the other day.

      After years of court-appointed exile from society, a family member and friend returned to us.  I told him, “I love you,” and meant it. 

     “Thank you,” he said.

     His response startled me, so I said, “You don’t have to thank me for loving you.”

     He was silent for a moment, then said, “Some wouldn’t.”  The words came out as a whisper lace with experience.

     I didn’t have to love him.  But loving comes easily because or the way I ‘ve been loved by Jesus - lavishly, in spite of my failures.  Reading about Jesus’ limitless LOVE - for those who came to Him with nothing but their brokenness, their pain, and their unsavory past - has convinced me that defaulting to LOVE is heaven’s expectation and my best option!                    - Cynthia Ruchti

      Faith Step: Someone in your circle of friends and family, or even a stranger needs to know he or she is loved outrageously and extravagantly.  Are you the carrier that Jesus wants to use to deliver that message?

 This message of Christ-like LOVE spoke to my heart.  It is certainly a message our world needs to today  - in word and actions. On the web I found this poem that I used to hear from my parents. Please open your heart as you read it.   Blessings, Gma J

The World's Bible  by Annie Johnson Flint

Christ has no hands but our hands To do His work today;
He has no feet but our feet To lead men in His way;
He has no tongues but our tongues To tell men how He died;
He has no help but our help To bring them to His side.

We are the only Bible The careless world will read;
We are the sinner's Gospel, We are the scoffer's creed;
We are the Lord's last message, Given in deed and word;
What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?

What if our hands are busy With work other than His?
What if our feet are walking Where sin's allurement is?
What if our tongues are speaking Of things His lips would spurn?
How can we hope to help Him And hasten His return?