It was really Good

 

... Let the water swarm with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. 

I was blogging before there was a blog.  Every couple of days I would post a statement or short story on the bulletin board at my work.  I was working on campus in a carpentry shop.  I remember one time I posted, "Today I listened the the birds.  They praised God and I heard what they said."  Shortly after posting this someone asked "What did they say?"  I replied, "You will have to go listen for yourself to find out." 

 

 

God's creation is "good."  The sea-creatures and the winged birds are here on the earth as evidence of God's goodness.  We rarely spend anytime considering these.  My family recently went to the beach.  While we were there we saw crabs, clams, and starfish.  We also picked up   some broken up seashells.  It was yet another experience of connecting with my own origins.  With my dad we picked out the old beach house that used to belong to my grandfather.  I remembered that when I was young I would walk just a block and be on the beach.   I remember as a child going to the beach with my dad and grandfather.  And now my own children having the same experience was very special.  Thank You God for creating the creatures of the sea that my family may have this special experience of looking for seashells.  Now the creatures have touched four generations that I am aware of in my family.  I look forward to the fifth generation should the Lord tarry long enough for my children to have children.  ...it was good!

These special moments are there for the taking.  They are low fruit that we can pick if we only take the time to do it.  God's creation is filled with goodness whether it is listening to the birds sing, three generations walking at the beach looking at sea creatures, or any other amazing revelation of God's creation.  It is his special gift to us.  I pray that I make the most of the special moments as I celebrate God's Goodness as I celebrate His Creation.  Take a moment to experience it and then spend some time thanking Him for His Goodness.  Do it today!

The Dark Side of Agape (Agapao)

I would like to share with you something that could potentially be controversial. For many years I had believed that Agape was a pure, holy, and Godly love. If you have ever done any study on the word love you will see this repeated through nearly every commentary on the subject of love. Now there is a love that is pure, holy, and godly, but the word is not Agape. Yes you heard me right it is not Agape. I was surprised by the few instances of agape and Agapao that were negative. I had been taught that agape was God's love it turns out that only God's Agape is God's love. Man's Agape (or Agapao) can be polluted by sin (like everything else that is given by God's goodness).  I know some of you are saying, but BJ you just said Agape was "a higher standard in love." Really Christ challenges us to a higher standard; the words Christ used describe this challenge (including the word agape). Stated a different way Christ is the standard and not the word itself; regardless of what the actual word we use (love in English, agape or Agapao in Greek) it is the fullness of God's love represented in the person of Christ that is the ultimate guide for love.   In the New Testament there are 12 instances that paint the ugly side of Agape. I think that it is important for us to understand these so that we can contrast them with God's perfect love!

It has helped me to understand the few times that Agape (or Agapao) is mentioned in the negative, because it explains how otherwise caring and compassionate Christian men and women can have a heart turn cold. How is it that we can so easily turn our hearts toward idols? I think that it is because we have missed the exclusive love (Agape) that God has for us and failed to return that love (Agapao or Agape) toward God or others.  Let's look at the passages:

Passage	What they say about love (agape/Agapao)	Agape/ Agapao
Matthew 5:46 Luke 6:32	Even sinners those that love them back	Agapao
Matthew 6:24 Luke 16:13	The people of the world love money, hate God	Agapao
Luke 11:42-43	Religious pride neglects love (agape)  for God and breeds desire (Agapao) for recognition	Agape and Agapao
John 3:19	The people of the world love darkness, hate "The Light (Jesus)"	Agapao
John 12:43	Worldly religion desires (Agapao) praise from men over praise from God	Agapao
2 Timothy 4:10	Loving the world leads to desertion of a brother in need	Agapao
2 Peter 2:15	False prophets love the wages of unrighteousness	Agapao
1 John 2:15	Loving (Agapao) the world or the things of the world means God's love (Agape) is absent	Agapao
1 John 3:18	Showing love with words only is not fulfilling the command to love.	Agapao
Matthew 24:12	Persecution, false prophets, and lawlessness will cause love (agape) to fade	Agape
Jude 1:12	False prophets use the Lord's Supper as an opportunity for irreverent self-indulgence	Agape
Revelation 2:4	Love is abandoned	Agape

Agape for good or for bad is exclusive. There is no room for double mindedness when agape is present. Loving the world excludes God and loving God excludes the world. Agape then is the love that holds it's object in higher honor, higher esteem, higher value than any other object. It is the object of our affection that makes agape Christian or moves agape down a destructive path. In Christian Agape the object is God First, and others second (Mark 12:29-31). Worldly agape can be money, praise, self-preservation, lawlessness, possession of the world, self-indulgence, darkness, or any other idol of our heart which we place above our love for God or love for people. Worldly agape and Christian agape cannot coexist according to the word of God.

Sin means that we miss the mark. To me this is most obvious in the things that we esteem the most when they are other than God. The fact that we can agape things that are not of God should shock us to attention. Lead us to self-examination. Force us into the challenging request for God to "Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind (Psalms 26:2; HCSB)." Only then can we honestly (without double mindedness) conclude, "For Your faithful love is before my eyes, and I live by Your truth (Psalms 26:3; HCSB)."

Someone pointed out that Agape is not the same word as Agapao.  Agapao is the verb form of Agape (a noun). In English we use the same word love as a noun and a verb. In this respect I do not see Agapao as different type of love from Agape. Agapao is the action of Agape in my understanding.  Here is a verse that helps to define the connection of the words Agape (noun), Agapao (verb), and agapetos (adj). It also gives me a clearer picture of how love is supposed to "work" in our lives.

10 Love (Agape) consists in this: not that we loved (Agapao) God, but that He loved (Agapao)us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Dear friends (agapetos), if God loved (Agapao) us in this way, we also must love (Agapao) one another.
1 John 4:10-11

Lord we long to live by Your truth. Our hearts are sick with objects of affection that have replaced You. Examine our hearts and see if there is any evil way within us. Give us courage to face the difficult examination, wisdom to discern, strength to repent, and Your agape love to fill our hearts. In Jesus Name Amen

Love: Going Deeper in the Word

In our English translation (HCSB) the word love (in all its forms) appears more than 700 times in the Bible. Over 300 times in the new testament. And around 90 times in the Gospels. Love is good news. John 3:16 tells us that it was love that motivated God to send His son to save us. This love is available to us as a result. There is on type of love that is particularly special. That Love is Agape. Agape appears around 140 times in the New Testament. The word Agape first appears in Christ's teaching in Matthew 5:43-48 on how Christians are to treat their enemies. It is a love that is greater than the feelings of animosity that we have for the person who has treated us the worst (our enemy)! Jesus teaches in this passage that in the world it is "love your neighbor and hate your enemies, but I tell you love your enemies." We are to pray for them (no not that God would strike them dead, though we might like it if he did). He challenges Christians to a higher standard in love. He calls on us to love perfectly as God loves perfectly (verse 48). We get a glimpse of this kind of perfect love in 1 Corinthians 13. What else does the Bible have to say about this love?

It is...	Passage
exclusive	Matthew 6:24
to be directed toward our neighbors	Matthew 19:19 Matthew 22:39
to be directed (fully) toward God	Matthew 22:37
Jesus' affection for the lost	Mark 12:30
doing good to an enemy	Luke 6:27
giving expecting nothing in return	Luke 6:35
transcendent of racial, ethnic, national and cultural barriers	Luke 7:5
given as an expression of thankfulness for forgiveness	Luke 7:47
God's (the Father) affection toward His Son Jesus	John 3:35
Loving Jesus which is Loving God	John 8:42
Sacrificial	John 10:17
Compassionate at someone's loss	John 11:5
Humbled to the position of servant washing another's feet (even the one that is about to betray you to death)	John 13:1-6
obedient to God's commandments	John 14:15
itself a commandment	John 13:34
the place that God abides	John 14:23
the revelation of God	John 14:15
steadfast (remains)	John 15:9
unity with God and other Christians	John 17:23
eternal	John 17:24
knowing and being known by God	John 17:26
God's working out good for those that express Agape toward Him	Romans 8:28
victory	Romans 8:37
to be our only debt toward others	Romans 13:8=9
waits on God	1 Corinthians 2:9 and Isaiah 64:4
self-sacrificing	2 Corinthians 12:15
God's favor	Ephesians 1:6
Christ's sacrifice	Ephesians 5:2
commanded of husbands toward their wives	Ephesians 5:25-33
undying	Ephesians 6:24
God's discipline	Hebrews 12:6
God's reward	James 1:12
believing in what is not seen (faith)	1 Peter 1:8
pure	1 Peter 1:22
keeps itself from evil	1 Peter 3:10
more than words	1 John 3:18

There is much more, but I think that will do for now ;-)

I encourage you to take this list and look them up in your Bible, Pray over them, Ask God to reveal the love of God to you hearts, and read them again. Ask God to not only reveal the love, but that love might become the evidence that He is in you. Love toward others is the greatest testimony of the Gospel there is!!!

Have a Blessed Day!

1 Corinthians 13: What is Love?

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13:1; NKJV)

How often we speak not in love, but out of some other motive. Often we speak from a point of self-centeredness. It seems that this is the easiest thing to do. "I want..." "I need..." "I..." The ego is on the throne of our hearts. When we speak from this vantage point Love is not in our hearts. Passion perhaps, desire most definitely, longing, lust, but love is missing. Selfish desire and love can not cohabitate within the heart they are incompatible. Without love our speech becomes loud and obnoxious to the hearer.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2-3)

Most Christians desire to do great things for God. We are thankful for the salvation from our sin. There was a young rich ruler (Mark 10:17-22) that lived in Jesus' day that wanted to be saved. He had reached the panicle of success at a young age and was ready to be great for God. Jesus informed him of the one thing that still prevented him from giving his life to the Lord.

Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, "You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." (Mark 10:21; HCSB)

Notice that Jesus "loved" him. It is an unfortunate that so many fail to realize the love of God. They miss receiving this love into their hearts and so they go away empty. Unfortunately this young man could not bring himself to give up the worldly things that held his heart. You can have all the things of world. But if you do not have the love of God in you then it profits you nothing! In his heart he loved things of this world more than God or people. Is there anything that you love more than God or people?

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7; NKJV)

Love is...	Love is not...
Longsuffering Kind toward others Joyful in truth Uplifting others Believing in others Hopeful	Envious Self promoting Conceited Rude Selfish Provoked Keeping records of wrong Happy with immorality

This is the core of Christian Love. We tend to make our walk with God much more complicated than it needs to be. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments were, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt 22:37-39; HCSB)" Looking at the list above can you say that the "Love is" list defines your relationships with others? This is one of the Christian paradoxes, that something so simple could be so hard to accomplish. In fact impossible. Perfection in this regard is impossible in human effort. We need something else to be able to accomplish this. We will study Romans 8 later, but let me share this:

For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, ?hostile? powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8:38-39 (HCSB)

Note two things: First we cannot ever be separated from the Love of God! Second that love is "in Christ Jesus our Lord!" When we come to God and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord we have the irresistible love of God placed into our lives and nothing can change that. I believe that the key to having that love then flow out of us into the lives of others is that second part. "In Christ Jesus our Lord" we can and must demonstrate the "love of God" toward God (through obedience; see 1 John 5:1-5) and toward others (through giving to others' needs; see 1 John 3:16-17). If we love in our own human nature the ego is always there to say, "What is in it for me." When we love "in Christ Jesus" then nothing stands in the way! The love that is listed in the table above is accomplished in Christ. This means that we have to live life for God and remain in Jesus to accomplish this kind of love.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God?God remains in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 1 John 4:15-16 (HCSB) (See also John 15:9-17)

Remaining in God's love is one of the most blessed virtues that a Christian can have and give! It is how the world is able to determine that Christ is with us (John 13:34-35).

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part.But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; NKJV)

God's love is unending. Everything that we consider worthy or valuable in this life will vanish like dew under the warm sun. Love is one thing that we can trust to carry through from this life to the next. It is interesting that of all the things that God could allow us to take to heaven He chose love. I firmly believe that it is because love defines the very essence of God. In fact were God is, love is! (see 1 John 4:16-19). Another thing to point out that Jesus said the the rich young ruler was, "If you want to be perfect... (Matt 19:21)." Love is perfection of Christian virtue. If Love is the essence of God then love ought to define our lives. Christian love is the sign that God is in us and we are in Him.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:11-12; NKJV)

This love is much more lofty than this humble attempt to explain it. In fact it cannot be fully understood until we come to Jesus "face to face" in heaven. However through this love we have a glimpse of what heaven will be like. This love is our heaven on earth. We should cultivate it and let it grow so that it becomes the very center of our life and living. Love is the greatest!

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13; NKJV)

Next Subject Love Going Deeper in the Word

The Greatest of these is Love

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Love is a four letter word in the English language. The word has become loud and obnoxious to our ears. We have the need to have our love now, all is fair in love and war, we can't stand it when someone else has love and we do not. If we are lucky enough to get it then we proclaim it though our network of friends "I found my love." If that love is not shown in return we start to wonder what is in it for me, that makes me mad, and remember how that person has hurt me so that we can bring it up in a future fight. We find pleasure in moral filth (pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry for example; not into that, how about what is now considered entertaining would have been pornographic 50 years ago). Honesty? We are skeptical. We question whether true love exists. We give up when love becomes to difficult. Love ends when we "fall out of love."

What happened? Did we lose our way????? I think part of the problem is that we have lost loves meaning. Think about we use the same word "love" to describe God's passion for us, the vow that we take saying "till death do us part," the relationship we have with good friends, our pets, a car that we like, our favorite food, a special new outfit, blogs, a clever joke or saying, favorite book, favorite TV show, job, house, or song. This same word is used to describe when our enemy gets there just reward, when a spouse finds a new fling, to sell us something we really do not need, prostitution, jealousy over something that another has that you do not have, to tell someone that we don't want to do something (ie I would love to if I had the time) and on and on.

Here is the problem. Love has come to mean so many things that it has lost its meaning. No wonder a person can be unfaithful to their spouse and turn around and call it "love." It is sad to hear those words, "I just don't love you anymore." Well either you have not understood love, or you never had it. I hope that as we study 1 Corinthians 13 we can clear up some of this confusion that is so pervasive in our culture.

God Help us to know Your love! Help us to experience Your love. Help us to share Your love. In Jesus Name AMEN

Next What is love?

Introduction to the Christian Walk: Salvation

Image by arti47 via Flickr

John 3:16 is arguably the most popular Bible verse in the whole Bible. A recent sample taken on Bible Gateway John 3:16 was at the top of the list (The 100 most-read Bible verses at BibleGateway.com, May 15, 2009). It was actually that blog that got me started thinking about a study on the "Introduction to the Christian Walk." So the question is "what does John 3:16 mean?"

To start with we have to understand that we fall short. You probably did not need me to tell you that, but it is true. Think about your own standards of a good moral person. What are the core values of morality? Honesty? Kindness? Generosity? Friendly? Not Stealing? Not Lying? The list goes on and on. Now think about those things that you hold dear. Do you measure up? For most of us (if we are honest) it is impossible to measure up to our own standards let alone God's standards. That is a problem! When we miss the mark the Bible calls that Sin. Sin is missing the mark. The Bible says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23; HCSB)" You see we all have missed the mark in some way. Now we tend to look at a person that has missed the mark more than ourselves and say "I am not as bad as that person over there!"
Consider this Story:

With 15 minutes to spare, he ran through the confusing terminals of JFK, sprinting from the gate his delayed flight had left him to the gate of his connecting flight. Out of breath, he reached the counter of his international flight and seeing the giant plane through the window, he breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it was a sigh prematurely taken. Complications were explained politely, though he ceased hearing much of anything after "too late to board" hit him like the 250-ton airplane at which he was staring. Frustrated beyond belief, he watched his 17-hour flight take off without him.

Needless to say, my husband's first bout with international travel did not set well with either of us. I was on the other end of that flight waiting for his arrival, and like him found myself maddened with helplessness. Being that close to making a flight, and yet missing it, left a sickening twinge in both of our stomachs.

Those who have heard his dramatic telling of Murphy's Law in action have responded similarly. In fact, everyone seems to cringe on cue, particularly at the part where he watches his plane sit for several long minutes until taking off, all from the vantage point of the airport window. Missing the flight seems incredibly intensified by the reality of being oh-so-close. And yet, it was missing the flight at all that was the problem. Whether he missed the plane by five or fifty minutes, he still missed the flight.
(From The Wrong Side of the Window)

Sin is like missing that flight. No matter how close we thing we are to meeting God's moral standards we still have missed the flight. Why is that important? When we miss the mark with God then we cannot have his favor. Sin separates us from God. What is more we cannot make it up. Missing means missing. What can we do then? That is where John 3:16 comes in. Let's take a look...

"For God loved the world in this way..."

God loves each one of us. His passion and desire (the type of love He has for us) cannot be measured. He is the very essence of love. His Compassion for our state is great. He desires that none would perish in sin.

"...He gave is one and only Son..."

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the one that spoke the words of this verse. He came to the earth and lived a perfect life. He suffered and died so that we could have the forgiveness of sin. When we miss the mark then it creates a gulf between us and God. Jesus bridges that gulf. His death allows for the possibility of a restored relationship with God. His death was a sacrifice. He laid down His life because he loved us. God (the Father in Heaven) sent Jesus for this mission. He gave Jesus to the world for this purpose. Jesus also rose up from the dead. He died for three days and appeared to many. After 40 days He ascended into heaven. His victory over death into life allows us to move out from under sin's curse of death into a new life.

"...so that everyone that believes in Him..."

Believing in Jesus is an act of faith. It means that you turn your life away from sin and selfishness and wholly rely on Him. When you do this then you enter into a relationship with Him. His power over the the grave allows for you to have peace as well as victory in this life.

"...will not perish, but have eternal life."

We all will die someday. This verse is not saying that we avoid death. There is a second death which forever separates us from God. I pointed out that our sin creates a gulf between us and God. We have missed the plane and there are no other flights to make it to eternity with God. This eternal separation from God is called hell. It is a place of torment with no hope for relief. Eternal life on the other hand is called heaven. To be in heaven is to be with God. Everyone that believes in Jesus will spend eternity in this blessed life.
I remember when I received Jesus Christ. Someone asked me, "Do you want to go to heaven with God?" I said, "yes" And then they asked me to pray a prayer similar to this:

"Dear God, I know that You love me. I confess my sin and need of salvation. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and arose from the grave. I turn away from sin and place my faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I want to follow you with my life. Amen"

If you have never received the forgiveness of sin that God offers through faith in Jesus perhaps you might pray that prayer right now. If you do please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page (I would like to pray over your new commitment). If you are already in a relationship with Jesus Christ then perhaps you would take a moment to write a few words of encouragement to someone that is considering the faith, by sharing what Jesus has done in your life.

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Next Subject Love

Introduction to the Christian Walk: Introduction

Image by JL Outdoor Photography via Flickr

“Why didn't anyone tell me about that?”

He confided in me his greatest longing to please God and how he felt that he had let God down. He was feeling pretty beat up. I had just asked him if he had ever read Romans 7 and 8. I told him how these passages are given to us so that we can understand victory in Christian living. He was both excited and disappointed. He was excited for the new direction that God's Spirit had placed on his life. He was disappointed that he had not learned it two decades ago when he first became a Christian.

There are many things that I know now that I wished I knew when I was starting out in my Christian walk. I am sure there are many of you who can relate to this. If I had known these things I could have saved myself a bunch of trouble. There are some basic principles that God has reveled to me over the years from His Word that I would like to share with you! These basics have been repeated over and over through the centuries of Christian faith, so I am not doing anything new here. My hope is to organize it in such a way that it introduces new believers to this thing called Christianity, reintroduces the faithful to some basic concepts that are easily understood and timeless, non-Christians to be introduced to core values of the faith and consider taking the step of faith to become a Christian, and finally to encourage people to consider get back to studying the Bible.

My focus over the next couple of weeks will be on five main subjects that come from five important passages from the Bible. These subjects are: Salvation (John 3:16), Love (1 Corinthians 13), Origin of life (Genesis 1), Spiritual victory (Romans 8), and Comfort in times of struggle (Psalms 23). I consider this a work in progress so I appreciate any comments or critiques which will help me make this useful to others. The title of this series will be “Introduction the Christian Walk.” I also encourage you to read and study these passages. Do not take my word for what they are saying. Pray and ask God to increase your understanding and study them for yourself. My overall goal is to lead you in studying God's word. These five subjects are a core of the countless practical truths that exist in the Bible. By discovering a love of God's Word my hope is to introduce you to a lifetime of discovering the truths contained within it's pages.

Father lead us into all truth! Your Word is truth. In Jesus Name Amen

First Lesson Salvation