16 The way that we have come to know love is through his having laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers! 17 If someone has worldly possessions and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how can he be loving God? 18 Children, let us love not with words and talk, but with actions and in reality!
19 Here is how we will know that we are from the truth and will set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 if our hearts know something against us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts know nothing against us, we have confidence in approaching God; 22 then, whatever we ask for, we receive from him; because we are obeying his commands and doing the things that please him.
23 This is his command: that we are to trust in the person and power of his Son Yeshua the Messiah and to keep loving one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands remain united with him and he with them.
Here is how we know that he remains united with us: by the Spirit whom he gave us.
(Complete Jewish Bible)
***African societies have long-been communal in nature. As Western ideals and greed creeps in, this is dying off or being warped for material gain. Traditionally, however, the community would gather to care for one another in times of death or financial burden, or to celebrate with each other in times of marriages, births, or successes. This also translates into, “It takes a village to raise a child.” This generally meant, if my child is disobeying or being disrespectful, please set him or her straight.This is not dissimilar to how the Body of Christ is supposed to look. In fact, the New Testament Church practiced this communal lifestyle of sharing and caring for one another, but also correcting each other, as needed.
Our love for one another should be overflowing in good times and in the bad times, but often it is in our faith communities where the most conflict happens. This is not God’s plan or design. On the contrary, “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23).
Hymn for Today: "My Savior's Love" by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel.
1. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus, the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.
Refrain: How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior’s love for me!
2. He took my sins and my sorrows;
he made them his very own;
he bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone.Refrain: How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior’s love for me!
3. When with the ransomed in glory
his face I at last shall see,
’twill be my joy through the ages
to sing of his love for me.Refrain: How marvelous, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior’s love for me!
Thought for Today: 44 But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!(Complete Jewish Bible)(Matthew 5:44).
Please pray: That many people in New Zealand will come to know Yeshua as their Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
***
Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from The Global Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City Missouri United States for Saturday, 24 March 2018 "No Words" by Rachelle Miller - 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
2 Corinthians 1:1 From: Sha’ul, by God’s will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua, and brother Timothy
***
When I was eight months pregnant with our first child, we sat with a friend who was seven months pregnant with her long-awaited first child, as she mourned the sudden loss of her husband to a heart attack the day after Christmas. It was horror compounded on horror.
I had no words. I just sat there and recommended she quickly go to the ATM to pull out as much cash as she could before the banks froze their joint accounts. My advice was useless and certainly lacked any form of comfort. I was not even 30-years-old, we were in our first pastorate, and I had nothing profound to share with this grieving widow.
In 2 Corinthians 1:9, Paul says, “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” Is that why we go through hard times? So we can rely on God more? Those are not words we want to hear when we are in the thick of the pain and difficulty, but once arriving on the other side of the tragedy, this is a truth we can embrace.
Hymn for Today: "He Hideth My Soul" by Fanny J. Crosby.
1. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
a wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
where rivers of pleasure I see.
Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
2. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
He taketh my burden away;
He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved;
He giveth me strength as my day.Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
3. With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
and filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God
for such a Redeemer as mine!Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
4. When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
to meet Him clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love
I'll shout with the millions on high.
Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from The Global Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City Missouri United States for Saturday, 24 March 2018 "No Words" by Rachelle Miller - 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
2 Corinthians 1:1 From: Sha’ul, by God’s will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua, and brother Timothy
To: God’s Messianic community in Corinth, along with all God’s people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
3 Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; 4 who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.
5 For just as the Messiah’s sufferings overflow into us, so through the Messiah our encouragement also overflows. 6 So if we undergo trials, it is for your encouragement and deliverance; and if we are encouraged, that should encourage you when you have to endure sufferings like those we are experiencing. 7 Moreover, our hope for you remains staunch, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, you will also share in the encouragement.
8 For, brothers, we want you to know about the trials we have undergone in the province of Asia. The burden laid on us was so far beyond what we could bear that we even despaired of living through it. 9 In our hearts we felt we were under sentence of death. However, this was to get us to rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead! 10 He rescued us from such deadly peril, and he will rescue us again! The one in whom we have placed our hope will indeed continue to rescue us. 11 And you must add your help by praying for us; for the more people there are praying, the more people there will be to give thanks when their prayer for us is answered. (Complete Jewish Bible)
***When I was eight months pregnant with our first child, we sat with a friend who was seven months pregnant with her long-awaited first child, as she mourned the sudden loss of her husband to a heart attack the day after Christmas. It was horror compounded on horror.
I had no words. I just sat there and recommended she quickly go to the ATM to pull out as much cash as she could before the banks froze their joint accounts. My advice was useless and certainly lacked any form of comfort. I was not even 30-years-old, we were in our first pastorate, and I had nothing profound to share with this grieving widow.
In 2 Corinthians 1:9, Paul says, “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” Is that why we go through hard times? So we can rely on God more? Those are not words we want to hear when we are in the thick of the pain and difficulty, but once arriving on the other side of the tragedy, this is a truth we can embrace.
Hymn for Today: "He Hideth My Soul" by Fanny J. Crosby.
1. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
a wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
where rivers of pleasure I see.
Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
2. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
He taketh my burden away;
He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved;
He giveth me strength as my day.Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
3. With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
and filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God
for such a Redeemer as mine!Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
4. When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
to meet Him clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love
I'll shout with the millions on high.
Refrain: He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
Thought for Today: May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with you.(Complete Jewish Bible)(1 Corinthians 16:23).
that shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love
and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand.
Thought for Today: May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with you.(Complete Jewish Bible)(1 Corinthians 16:23).
Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in leaders in Myanmar.
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