March 28, 2024

LOVE One Another

Last week, I brought up a simple fact: loving God = obedience to Him.  After delving into the Scriptures, we were convinced that there is no way around it: if we want to love God we must obey His commands.

For this is what LOVE for God is: to keep His commands.
1 John 5:3

This week, we will look at one very specific area in which our obedience (or disobedience) clearly shows our LOVE for Him—our LOVE for one another.

1 John 4:21
And we have this command from Him:
The one who LOVES God must also LOVE his brother.

God specifically communicates, just as distinctly as in 1 John 5:3, that LOVE for Him requires obedience.  If we LOVE God, we keep His commands—we obey Him.  His command in this area is that we must also LOVE our brother (and sister).  And we are encouraged that ‘yes! I CAN do this!’ because we know that His commands are not too hard for us “…His commands are not a burden…” (1 John 5:3b).

Jesus was preparing His disciples for His soon-coming death, resurrection and departure.  One of the very important things that He spoke to them about was this very thing—LOVE—when He told them,

This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have LOVE for one another.
John 13:35

Think about that for a moment, please.  Was there ever anyone who loved more, or better, or more completely, or selflessly than our Lord?  No…not ever.  But, we understand from His communication with His disciples that they would be recognized as His by their LOVE for one another.  Just amazing, isn’t it?  Truly, I believe, we also are recognized as His by our LOVE for one another.  How blessed are we!!!

We all know the ‘LOVE’ chapter of the Bible…that’s right, 1 Corinthians 13.  Contained in that portion of the Scriptures is God’s definition of what LOVE is.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient,
Love is kind and is not jealous;
Love does not brag and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly;
It does not seek its own, is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails;

Dear children, let us not LOVE with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18

The actions  are clearly defined for us in 1 Corinthians chapter 13:

  • being patient
  • kind
  • displaying no jealousy
  • or bragging
  • not being arrogant
  • acting becomingly (appropriately)
  • being selfless
  • not being provoked
  • not worrying about wrongs done to us
  • not rejoicing in unrighteousness
  • rejoicing in truth
  • bearing and believing and hoping and enduring all things

These are the actions—the attitudes of our hearts—that show, or prove, or display our LOVE.  Words are easy to say…but actions show the truth.  Amen?

Praying for you each (please pray for me, too!) as you endeavor to be obedient and to treasure the commands of our God.  Remember, loving God = obedience to His commands.  He has commanded that we LOVE one another and to LOVE with actions, not just idle words.

Let all that you do be done in LOVE.
1 Corinthians 16:14

Praying for each of you!

♥  coleen

LOVE God, LOVE People (lyrics)

how can i thank You for the way that you freely gave
LOVE so beautiful, unconditionally
had to stop, take a break, feelin’ good today
everything’s wonderful…You didn’t have to do this for me
but then i look and see all of the suffering, i wanna do something
but something’s gotta start with me

i can’t give it ‘til i live it
now that my eyes are open, teach me how to LOVE

LOVE God…LOVE people!  LOVE my neighbor as myself
my brother, my sister; everybody LOVE somebody

and now it’s time to make a change—revolution day
put it into action…live compassionately
you take the black and the white…red, yellow, brown
life gets better, it just gets better when we
we look around and see all of humanity
waiting on someone—someone is you and me

you can’t give it ‘til you live it
now that your heart is open, just reach out and LOVE

you can’t give it ‘til you live it
you can’t live it until you give it away
you can’t give it ‘til you live it
now that your heart is wide open, you gotta give all of your LOVE

you can’t live without giving LOVE
so let your heart be open; just reach out and, just reach out and LOVE <3

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If you would like to send a personal message to Coleen, you may email her at:

Coleen@girlfriendscoffeehour.com, or leave a comment below.

Girls With Swords: Chapter 3 – “Heroes Seize Their Moments” (pgs 42-47)

I LOVE SUPERHEROES!!!!!  When I think about the ‘worldly’ image of superheroes it brings to mind the bold, muscular, powerful, intelligent, gifted persona we recognize as the hero.  But if we really look at the person behind the superhero name tag, we find a normal, unassuming, unlikely character.  Most of the comic books show us that these people were ‘victims’ of  a major event in their lives not of their choosing.  They don’t come from a long line of heroes.  They are unique.  They stand out.

I got so fired up when I began reading this chapter, “You Might Be A Hero”.  It was a very powerful reminder of who God can use to do heroic things for Him while we are in this world.  Look at these points Lisa made:

  1. God makes heroes out of nobodies.
  2. Heroes are people of substance.
  3. Heroes have attitude.
  4. Heroes seize their moment.
  5. Heroes are part of a connected legacy.
  6. Heroes are superhuman.
  7. Heroes are brave.
  8. Heroes have something more to them.

I don’t know about you, but when I read Hebrews 11 and recount the heroes of the faith, the last thing I see is ‘nobodies.’  They must have been something special, right?  Surely they woke up one day and KNEW they were a hero.  Didn’t they?  It’s time to dig a little deeper for some truth.

“Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing.  How did they do it?  They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.”

 Hebrews 11:13  MSG

Each one of the people listed in the Hall of Faith died not even knowing the impact their life would have on the world.  All they knew was that they were chosen by God to go wherever He asked, do whatever He needed them to do, protect whomever He needed them to protect, feed whoever was hungry, build what He said build, stand when He said stand and FIGHT when God said fight.

These are our ancestors.  THESE are our ancestorsTHESE ARE OUR ANCESTORS.  They could see us in the future.  They waved to us a greeting and encouraged us to carry on.  They passed the torch on to us normal people of God to continue the fight.  Our ancestors knew they were only passing through this world.  They chose to follow God, do what He asked them to do, and left us a mighty legacy as an example.  As a result, they had an impact on the world that is still being felt many generations after their passing.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

(Our pastor spoke on this passage this weekend.  I love it when God does that for me.  I got a lesson before I needed to share it with you.)  It is our turn to be the hero that God rises up, in our time, to carry out His purposes.  We have encouragers surrounding us.  They have gone before us, they know how we feel, they are considered heroes, and are sitting in the presence of God RIGHT NOW.  I want to be cheered on by Moses, Abraham, Rahab, David, Mary, Nehemiah, Jeremiah…my grandparents.

Lisa says on page 46, “As the realization grows of how in him we are heroes and he is the hero within, it should overpower any fear we may have felt when we learned we were targets.  We need to throw our shoulders back and declare, “I am positioned for overwhelming triumph because I am ‘from God and have overcome them, for he who is in [me] is greater than he who is in the world’” (1 John 4:4).”

1John4_4

Did you see that?  “I am positioned for overwhelming TRIUMPH because I am ‘FROM GOD’, ‘HAVE OVERCOME THEM’, ‘HE WHO IS IN ME IS GREATER THAN he WHO IS IN THE WORLD’.

This mild-mannered Jesus girl may look ordinary on the outside, but I have a HERO living inside me that needs to save the world.  “It is exciting to look in the mirror and realize there is far more to you than anyone can actually see.  The realm of the unseen holds your secret hero identity.  Being a hero is an act of worship” (p. 47).  My act of worship is to do the will of the One who lives within me.  It is God’s will for every soul on this earth to be redeemed and restored.  It is our job as Jesus girls to spread the word and fight the battles to free God’s children from whatever entangles them.

We cannot lead people spiritually where we have not gone.  (That’s considered a push.)  As heroes, we have to be prepared for the battles by getting to know the Commander.  His Spirit within us guides us to do the will of the Father.  In our own strength, we cannot defeat the enemies we face.  The Bible tells us our enemies are not flesh and blood, but spiritual.  We will not be able to punch, claw, or even stand and take the enemies punishment in our own body without the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Superheroes Are Part of a Connected Legacy

Superheroes know where their strength comes from.  “Life in the Spirit means we no longer give way to the base actions and emotions that tether us to our own strength and striving.  Nor can we allow the enemy entrance through our actions” (p. 47).

Zechariah 4:6 tells us, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”  Zechariah was a cool dude.  Do you think he really understood who his son was going to be?  Can a parent see into the future and know how their child will change the world?  I don’t think so, but man, John the Baptist was a cool friend of Jesus.  Zechariah raised that boy the way God said and his words are still being read today.  He is still a hero changing the world.  Zechariah had a part in John’s story, John had a part in Jesus’ story and Jesus is a part of OUR STORY.

Oops, sorry,  I chased a chicken and got distracted.  On page 43, Lisa adds a fencing fact.

In fencing, if you fall into playing your opponent’s game,

you are as good as doomed.

We cannot act the way the world does and expect them to see Jesus.  “We cannot allow the enemy entrance through our actions.”  Our sWord says,  “For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (1 Corinthians 3:3).  As long as we allow ourselves to be controlled by our actions and emotions, God cannot use us to do superhuman things for Him.  We have to choose to walk with God, by His power, and through His Spirit.

So, to be a superhero we have to plug into our Power Source.  Because God is our Power Source, we are accountable to Him for our actions.  He will guide us to the battle.  He will protect us through the fight.  We will emerge victorious, being cheered on by that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.

 

Let’s be Heroes,

Teresa

*****

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, we come to You with a humble heart today.  We fully acknowledge that it is by Your power that we are fighting our battles and by Your power we will emerge victorious.  Lead us to the field, equip us for every good work and lift our arms as we stand for You.  We love You and praise Your Holy Name.   Amen. 

Captivating – Chapter 3: Dominating Women – Desolate Women

I remember the moment like it was yesterday.  I was 8 years old and away from my family for the first time for a week of Kids Camp with my church.  It was one of the best, most memorable times of my childhood.  And the scene that follows left an immeasurable impression on my mind and heart.

While drying my hands in the bathroom, one of the counselors whom I greatly admired and loved, said to me, “Carissa, you’re so cute!” Boom.  The words were spoken, and those words felt so good.  I had a new goal.  I wanted to be “cute” all of the time.  I wanted to feel special, noticed, admired, and loved every day.

But the fact remains: I’m not as “cute” as I once was.  Over the past 17 years of my life, there have been way more “non-cute” comments directed my way.  And so, I’m sitting here, writing to you as a scarred and broken woman.  Because of the Fall, I’m cursed with a longing to be beautiful and irreplaceable. Since the world has shown me more coldness than warmth, I’m guarded.  I know I’m not alone in this either.  My guarded mindset is driven from fear—fear of being vulnerable.  Every woman deals with this fear differently.  The two main methods, pointed out by our authors of this book, are either domination or desolation.

So how do you deal?  Do you play the defense, trying to control your situation and others, sometimes even masking your controlling nature as “caring” for others?  Or are you a wallflower, preferring to be silent and unseen, thus also controlling your situation instead of surrendering it to God?

We must realize that these two attitudes are inspired by fear, a fear that was not sent from God.  Ladies, 1 John 4 affirms that “God is love.” And we know that “perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”  So if we live in love, then God lives in us and fear has no place to dwell.

So no matter which woman you identify with (either dominating or desolate…or maybe both) and no matter how much you try to control or how well you hide, God knows your heart.  He knows the motives behind everything you do.  He knows every thought, every attitude, every action, and every reaction.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13).

God wants you to know Him, too.  He wants you to know freedom from your fears and past hurts; He wants you to know the depth of His love for you.  He wants you to know that in His eyes, you are way more than “cute.”  You are beautiful and irreplaceable. He delights in you because you are captivating.

 

Praise Him,

 

Carissa

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Let’s Pray
Our beautiful and wonderful Savior, thank You for who You are, thank You for creating us in Your image, thank You for the beauty that you instilled in each woman.  Father, I pray that every day, we will wake to dwell in You because You are love.  I pray against the Evil One and his attacks on our hearts with fear and doubt.  Help us to daily surrender our lives to you – surrender our desires to both control and hide.  Father, we know that we can do all things through You because You are our strength.  In Your precious name we pray, Amen.

Your Assignment
Are you more dominating or desolate?  Can you see how these attitudes stem from fear?  What are some ways we can daily practice to abide in love and thus reveal the beauty within each of us?

 

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 If you are interested in sending a private message to Carissa, please email her at CarissaMarkantone@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com