April 26, 2024

The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

March 25, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free
Rolling as a mighty ocean,
In its fullness over me
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Thy glorious rest above

O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread His praise from shore to shore
How He loveth, ever loveth
Changeth never, evermore
How He watches o’er His loved ones
Died to call them all His own
How for them He intercedeth
Watcheth o’er them from the Throne

O the deep, deep love of Jesus
’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me
And it lifts me up to glory
For it lifts me up to Thee
And it lifts me up to glory

Selah
Lyrics: Samuel Francis / Music: Thomas Williams 

*  ~    ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥    ~  *  

Such a stirring, convicting song!  These lyrics remind us of the immensity and the magnitude of Jesus’ love.  As the song goes, “…vast, unmeasured, boundless….”  No love on this earth ever was, nor ever will be, any greater!  His is a deep, deep love!

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down His life for His friends.
John 15:13

Truly, it could only have been His pure love that compelled Him to die for us. Jesus was fully aware of the kind of sacrifice that was required to redeem mankind.  In His last moments of freedom, while praying in the Garden at Gethsemene, He agonized over what He knew was to come.  And yet, He did it. For us…with deep, deep love!

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps
for a good man someone would dare even to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Romans 5:6-10

And so deep is this love of Jesus for us that it requires being born-again—to have Christ living in us—to even be able to comprehend this deep, deep love!

…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ…
Ephesians 3:17-19

But, by God’s grace and through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, we are given some insight into this love.  And to begin to know this love.   To fully comprehend this kind of love I truly believe it will take having the new minds and new bodies which are promised to us when He returns.  Perhaps it is just too much for us to completely understand His deep, deep love at this point.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38 and 39

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you…” (John 15:12).  These were Jesus’ words to His closest friends during the last meal He would share with them.  He knew the time was imminent and that the time was at hand when He would show His deep, deep love.  He gave clear command to them (and to us—we are to do the same).

And so, what does that mean to you (me, too) today?  How will we show this deep, deep love of Jesus to others today?  This wasn’t Jesus’ suggestion or even His plea…it was His command.  And it is how the world will know that we ARE His!

By this all people will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another.
John 13:35

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oh, The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

March 30, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast unmeasured, boundless, free
Rolling as a mighty ocean, in its fullness over me
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, evermore
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee, yeah
And it lifts me up to glory

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

Lyrics: Samuel Francis / Music: Thomas Williams /
Performed and sung by Selah / and danced by Praise in Motion

*  ~  *  ~    ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥    ~  *  ~  * 

Such a stirring, convicting song!  These lyrics remind us of the the immensity and the magnitude of Jesus’ love.  As the song goes, “…vast, unmeasured, boundless….”  No love on this earth ever was, nor ever will be, greater!  His is a deep, deep love!

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down His life for His friends.
John 15:13

Truly, it could only have been His pure love that compelled Him to die for us. Jesus was fully aware of the kind of sacrifice that was required to redeem mankind.  In His last moments of freedom, while praying in the Garden at Gethsemene, He agonized over what He knew was to come.  And yet, He did it. For us…with deep, deep love!

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps
for a good man someone would dare even to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,
much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Romans 5:6-10

And so deep is this love of Jesus for us that it requires being born-again…to have Christ living in us…to even comprehend this deep, deep love!

But, by God’s grace and through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, we are given some insight into this love.  And to begin to know this love.  Truly, I believe, it will take us having the new minds and new bodies which are promised to those that are His when He returns to fully comprehend.  Perhaps it is just too much for us to completely understand His deep, deep love at this point.

…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ…
Ephesians 3:17-19

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38 and 39

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you…” (John 15:12).  These were Jesus’ words to His closest friends during the last meal He would share with them.  He knew the time was imminent and that the time was at hand when He would show His deep, deep love.  He gave clear command to them…and to us—we are to do the same.

And so, what does that mean to you (me, too) today?  How will we show this deep, deep love of Jesus to others today?  This wasn’t Jesus’ suggestion or even His plea…it was His command.  And it is how the world will know that we ARE His!

By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Different

March 19, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I have had the right to stand and fight
But it would have still been wrong
I’ve had the chance to prove a hurtful truth
I had to let it go and just move on
‘Cause there’s a gift called grace
That’s captured my life
Though the way of the world is power and pride

I want to be different, Jesus, just like You
I want to be tender with mercy guiding all I do
So when others talk about me
Let it be because I am different
Let the difference be love

Let me have the kind of heart that shines
The light and shows You’re real
And where hope is dim and fear sets in
Will you use me, Lord, to help and heal
I don’t want wealth or fame
To define the life I live
Oh, let me be known for what I give

Every day is a chance to serve You
By caring for someone else
I will make the choice to surrender
And not live for myself

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

~  Performed by Mollye Rees and Jamie Slocum  / Written by Jamie Slocum  ~
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

 How many times have you said this phrase to yourself in your life time?

“I want to be different, Lord!”

Everyday, people are watching our every move, especially when they hear we are Christians.   They begin critiquing us in everything.   They want to know ARE we really different.   People look for different.

It’s not what is on the outside (our clothes, our hairstyle, our car, etc.) that is important and makes us different; but it’s Who lives inside us that makes us truly different.   We should be so different that others see it in our hearts, our actions, our attitudes.   Keep in mind, becoming different is not immediate when we say ‘yes!’ to receive Christ as Savior.   Before that moment we lived an ungodly life in an ungodly world trying to shed ourselves of old habits and behaviors that once were us.   Now we have a new life inside us—the Holy Spirit—that is ready to mold us to be different, to be just like Jesus!

Don’t get discouraged, becoming different takes time.  The ways of this world that we live in are natural and don’t have to be learned, but becoming different, becoming like Jesus, is a total change in thinking and action.

 Jesus was different. He was totally others-centered and the key to His difference was LOVE!

How can we become different so that others see Him? By pushing old things away, by letting our reactions to people be seen as the hands and feet of Jesus, by becoming a little more different—more like Him—every day!

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you
John 15:12

I wanna be different…how about you?

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Dear God,  help us to read Your Word daily, Lord, and continue to teach us every day how we can change to be like You and when the world sees that difference then they will see You.  In Your name I pray, Amen!

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

16 Day Love Challenge: Chapter 16 – Love Never Fails

November 22, 2013 by

16daylovechallengeneverfails

 

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, 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.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Quite a list of accomplishments, wouldn’t you say?  Perhaps you might say to yourself, ‘Do you really think anyone can do that—love that way?’  Well, I DO know someONE Who can!  (You do, too!)  Our Father, Almighty God, the Great I AM…He can! And He does!

Here are a few verses just to remind us of God’s never failing love.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalms 13:5 and 6

I have loved you with an everlasting love….
Jeremiah 31:3

Psalm 136 tells us “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His love endures forever.” And this truth is reiterated in every single verse throughout this psalm…26 times!

As our study of the 16 Day Love Challenge: Matching our Words and Actions with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 draws to a close, we look at God’s final statement in this passage about LOVE.

Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:8

It doesn’t say ‘almost never’ or ‘almost all the time’ or ‘99 out of 100 times’, does it?  No, ma’am…it says ‘Love never fails.’

never (adverb)

1. at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever.
synonyms: not ever, at no time, not at any time, not once, ne’er.

2. not at all
synonyms: certainly not, not for a moment, under no circumstances, on no account

(and here are a few informal synonyms: no way, not on your life, not in a million years, when pigs fly, when hell freezes over.)

Can I tell you something?  I do know someone else, besides our great God who can love that way!  Really!  It is y.o.u.  Yes, my friend, you CAN love others in that same way!  Hey, now, no scoffing, no pshawing, no doubting—the Scriptures clearly communicate this!

…Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:5

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another,
even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if You have love for one another.
John 13:34-35

This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God
and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:7-8, 11

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them.

This is how love is perfected with us
so that we will have confidence on the day of Judgment;
because as He is, so are we in this world.
Verses 16 and 17

And He has given us this command:
anyone who loves God must also love their brother or sister.
Verse 21

God’s Word is Truth!  And so, we are what the Word of God says that we are!  We ARE able to love as God loves.  As we were reminded the other day by Cherie, truth is not determined by our experience but simply by the Truth of the Scriptures.

Try this! Read through these verses again (out loud, please!), inserting your name along with ‘love.’ Like this…

{Cherie’s} love is patient, {Rebecca’s} love is kind.
{Kim’s love} does not envy, {Cynda’s love} does not boast; {Rae Ann’s love} is not proud.
{Darcie’s love} does not dishonor others, {Jennifer’s love} is not self-seeking,
{Cyndie’s love} is not easily angered, {Clella’s love} keeps no record of wrongs.
{Beverly’s} love does not delight in evil but {Robin’s love} rejoices with the Truth.
{Shari’s love} always protects, {Chelle’s love} always trusts,
{Kristen‘s love} always hopes, {Aminah‘s love} always perseveres.
{Christi’s} love never fails.

Let’s Pray:
Lord, we are so thankful that it was Your plan for us to study together and to work the 16 Day Love Challenge together!!!  Our lives are forever changed.  We do so need Your help through the Holy Spirit that You have placed within us, Lord!  You know (we do, too) that there will be times we are tempted to think that we cannot love like this.  Help us to recognize that lie and to replace it with the Truth that we can love because You have placed Your love within us! Today may we reach out to everyone around us with Your love that is in our hearts!  Thank You, Lord!  It is only because of Your great grace and mercy!  We pray these things in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Filed Under: Women's Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,