love | Revelations From The Road

Advent 2

December 18, 2022 by Bill Leave a Comment

As we learned last week, the word “advent” means, “coming” or “arrival”. They were awaiting the arrival of our Savior and King during this Christmas season. We talked about HOPE and PEACE last week and, this week, we are going to focus on JOY and LOVE.

JOY. Some view joy and happiness as the same thing, but that’s not the case. Joy is more Spiritual and intentional. Happiness is shaped by what happens to you, joy is found deep within no matter what’s going on around you. If you’re going through a hard time and feel like all your strength has been sapped, declare this verse: “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).Be reminded of the promises of God, (they’re in the Bible), and don’t listen to the temptations of the enemy. And, as a witness, people would expect you to be happy when good things happen to you. But the best witness could be that, when you’re in a storm of life, that you show joy and faith that God will bring you through. That is Spiritual and internal. Jesus endured the cross, “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). We can too.

LOVE. “An intense feeling of deep affection:” Oh wow, love. How much love is displayed during Christmas? We see the love of God toward us in action by the events of Jesus’ birth and early life. God is love! We should be showing our love for God during Christmas, and every day, by the way we love others. Jesus said, “Love one another.” (John 13:34). God loves us with a never-ending love and we should try to do the same toward Him and His creation. We can love our car, our sports team or our phone but what about people? We can love our spouse, kids, grandkids and others in our family but what about those we meet each day, our co-workers, our church family? Show the love of God. Let’s demonstrate our Christianity during this Christmas season by showing our JOY and LOVE. God will be pleased.

I Love You!

February 12, 2019 by Bill Leave a Comment

How does it make you feel when someone tells you they love you? Pretty good I’d say. With Valentine’s Day coming up, we’ll hear this word a lot. However, love is a strange word. Webster defines love as: “An intense feeling of deep affection.”. But another definition is: “A great interest and pleasure in something.”. Two very different meanings. The first is usually directed to a person, the second to a thing. We love our spouse, kids, family and friends but we also say we love our phone, sports team, car, house, job, school, etc. But there is another kind of love that surpasses all this. You know where I’m going.

The Love of God. We cannot understand the love that God has for us. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). He loved us when we were against Him and He loves us as Christians when we sin. “Nothing in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39). There’s nothing we can do that will cause God to love us any less or any more. God loves us! We’re His kids. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1).

Do we love God? “Well sure!” we might say. But is it that “intense feeling of deep affection” or is it like we love our stuff? And how about how we love other people? Jesus said, ^“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. -And- Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31). “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8). We have to love!

It may sound silly, but God may be saying to you, “I love you, would you be my valentine?” Let’s love God and show it to others this week and every week. “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:26).

He Loves You!

September 10, 2017 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given September 2017

This is a message that I hope will encourage someone today. I know some of you have messed up…AGAIN! We all do. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23). And you may be thinking, “Why does God even put up with me?” “I have loved you with an everlasting love;” (Jeremiah 31:3). Why, because He loves you! We can’t understand this kind of love. God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Jesus replied to a question about forgiveness from Peter saying we should not just forgive someone seven times but seventy times seven, (Matthew 18: 21-22). He didn’t mean to forgive someone 490 times then stop, He meant there is no limit. And remember, God has already made a way for us to be forgiven for our sins and even for those sins we’ve not committed yet! That way was Jesus’ death on the cross where He took our sins on Himself! He loves you! God will never say when you mess up, “That’s it! I’m outta here!” No, He loves you!

So today, if you can identify with what you’ve read here, stop right now and pray: “God, I confess my sin to You, I’m sorry and repent of it and I ask for Your forgiveness. Amen.” Now, picture Him saying with a big smile on His face, “I forgive you child, come here and give me a hug.” (Look up at that picture.)

You are now forgiven, you are clean. So, take God’s hand and continue on with Him to the wonderful plan He has for you. HE LOVES YOU!

Do You Love God?

November 12, 2011 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given February 2011

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15). Who are His lambs and how do we feed them?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). Heart¸ soul, mind¸ and strength; what’s left?

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; (Matthew 10:37). How much do you love your parents, spouse, or children?

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15). What DOES Jesus command us to do?

How do the things in your life stack up? If you choose, fill in these charts with your calculations.

MONEY TIME

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60). Really loving God can be hard, we think, but the benefits are out of this world!

Promises Of God

July 27, 2008 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given July 7, 2008

As we read the Bible, we see many statements made by God the Father and Jesus the Son pertaining to our lives. Some of them, we have no problem readily believing such as, “God is love.” 1 John 4:8 and we all know John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But there are some promises that are a little harder to believe, ones where we might say, “Yeah, I know it says that, but….”. In the next several weeks, I will be examining some of the Promises of God, what they mean to us, and hopefully be enlightened to 2 Corinthians 1:20 which says, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

The first promise we will look at is a foundation of all others: “I am the Lord, and I do not change. Malachi 3:6”. The way God was in the beginning, the things He said in the Old Testament, the words of Jesus in the New Testament, none of it has changed. What He said then can be real to us now. We must believe it, not doubt it, speak like we believe it, and act on it. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8”. He promised!