Love, Life and Ministry: A Love Confession

This is most probably the final installment in my Love, Life and Ministry series. Below is a compliation of my favourite love verses, from the bible. I have attempted to put them in a format that is easy to read and that has a logical flow. I hope you are blessed by this!

Photo by: Kirsti Pennels

A Love Confession:

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies (Psalm 36:5), your love is better than life (Psalm 63:3), your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth (Psalm 26:3). Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6), because the LORD is good and his love endures forever (Psalm 100:5) and I trust in your unfailing love (Psalm 13:51). 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, and always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). It is by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35). Likewise, greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). But, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) So, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39) So, do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:14) For Christ’s love compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14) and the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6), so whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13) and God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16)

Love, Life and Ministry: # 2

Ministering from the Heart

"... let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." - 1 John 4:7-8 (NKJV)


      Have you ever felt like a hypocrite? Like you don't feel worthy or good enough to tell people about Jesus? If you say yes, then I would estimate that you are in the same boat as the majority of people who call themselves Christians. What has this got to do with love? Well, everything in fact, because love is an issue of the heart and so is hypocrisy. You see, one of the broad definitions of a hypocrite is someone who does something, but with the wrong motives. So how do we minister out of the right motives then?
 
     I was out ministering on the streets of our city last week. It was night time and well below freezing, it was cold! My little group of fearless evangelists stumbled upon a couple, sitting in the doorway of a shop. The woman was five months pregnant and the man had all their belongings stuffed into a duffel bag. We decided to stop and listen to their story. As it turned out, they had nowhere to go, no money, no food and no hope. So we decided to pray with them, encourage them and we were able to help them out with some money, for a room for the night.

Others

     The reason I bring this story up, is because it is a classic case of what most people would call 'ministry'. God is love, right? Right!(1 John 4:16) And we have God inside of us, right? Right! (1 John 4:15) So in fact, us loving those people, that night on the street, was really God loving them. We were an extension of Him, we bought His kingdom down onto that side-walk, on that cold winters night, just because we had the love of God inside of us. This is the same for anything you do, with the right heart, you are extending His kingdom and breaking down spiritual barriers with love!



pic courtesy of gsmfiles

Me (You)

    An insight God gave me a while back on love, has really helped to put His love for me into perspective. When we understand His love for us, it is easy minister to others out of love: If you were the only person alive on the earth, Jesus would have still died for you! This is massive. That is how much He loves you and me, as individuals, John 3:16 confirms this, when it says that "... God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son ..."

     Try and imagine an enormous bucket. Now fill it with God's love for you and slowly tip it over your head. Feels good, doesn't it! But wait, this bucket never runs out, it just keeps pouring the love of the Father over you! This is the reality, believe it, it's true!