Sharing is Caring

God’s Love       “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.   …   Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 43:4; 49:15)   “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1).     The Bible declares that God loves each one of you.   What does the Bible say about this love of God towards you?     Firstly, the Bible states that God esteems you as precious.   In Isaiah 43:4, God testifies, "Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you ...."   All of you are considered precious in the sight of God.   How did we, as sinners, become esteemed in God's sight?   The reason is that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus. ...

  Day 6: Romans 9:1-8     Unbreakable love     In Paul's unbreakable love for the people of Israel, there was "great sorrow" and "unceasing anguish" (Rom. 9:1-2).  The reason for this was Israel's unbelief.  Paul's "great sorrow" and "unceasing anguish" stemmed from the fact that his kinsmen according to the flesh, the Israelites (v. 3), sought to attain righteousness not by faith but by works (v. 11).  Paul was particularly distressed to see a privileged nation like the Israelites, who had the privilege of knowing and believing in God (vv. 4-5), not availing themselves of that privilege.   Yet, amidst witnessing the disobedience of the Israelites, and feeling the urgency and agony for the salvation of their souls, there was something that comforted his heart.  It was the word of the unbreakable covenant of God (v. 6).  The promise in that word was, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (v. 7).  The core of th...

          Let us love each other.         [Romans 13:8-10 ]            Are you good at interpersonal relationships?   There is an eternal classic of human management that has provided useful clues to solutions for people struggling with human relationships.   The name of that classic book is “How to Win Friends and Influence People.’   The author of this book is Dale Carnegie, considered the master of human relationships.   I want to share with you today some of his 30 relationship quotes (Internet): (1) Take a sincere interest in others, (2) Be a good listener.   Create a comfortable atmosphere so that the other person can speak freely about themselves, (3) Try talking about the other person's interests as a topic, (4) Give generous praise for small progress, (5) Don't criticize, belittle, or complain about the other person's opinion.   What do you think? ...

Community of love             [Romans 12:9-13]         What do you think of when you think of a community called church?   When I think of “community,” I think of the early church community in the Book of Acts.   And I think of the community of the Early Church as a community of love.   At the same time, I often ask myself, 'How can our church be established as a community of love like the Early Church?'   In doing so, I can't forget the 5 steps I get through studying the Book of Acts on how the Lord establishes the church, which is the body of the Lord: (1) About 120 people also gathered together and prayed holding onto the word of promise (Acts 1:14), (2) When they prayed in unison, they received the fullness of the Holy Spirit (Ch. 2), (3) When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ (4:31), (4) The Lord added people who are being saved daily...

Inseparable love         [Romans 9:1-13]     We have already meditated on Romans 8:31-39.   In particular, I thought of the third and last of the three assurances, “Assurance of love.”   I personally shared verses 38-39 with you: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Even death cannot separate you and me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   In the midst of this, as we read Romans 9:1-3, we can see a glimpse of Paul's heart of loving the Israelites with God's inseparable love.   An example of this is Romans 9:3 – “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”   As I meditated o...