Love and the Bible

     This is technically a Valentine's day post, but I didn't quite make it on time for the 14th. But who says we can't talk about love every day, especially when it's God's love we're talking about? The Bible talks about love a lot. The passage most people probably think of when reminded of Biblical love is 1 Corinthians 13, which says:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

     This passage makes it clear that love is more than a feeling; it is an action. A verb. There is a rather extensive list in 1 Corinthians 13 of what love is: patient, kind, hopeful, humble. This would be a good passage to pray through if struggling with not loving someone.

     Below are some more Scriptures about love. Some of them are about loving one another. A lot of them are about the only perfect love: God's love for us.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. 

John 13:34-35

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:18


You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.
Job 10:12

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[a] serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Romans 12:9-13

For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10



For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
Psalm 26:3

     

     There are a lot more verses about love I could post. One day I think I'll just sit down with my concordance and read all of the verses about love. :) If you try that, or if you do it for another word, or if you have a similar type of "Bible study" that you do, let me know in the comments section! I'd love to hear what y'all do to study God's word! :)

-Sarah :)

     

Trust and Faith

Once, when I was reading in Romans, I came across this passage that spoke to me.

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."

Romans 4:20-22

Trusting in God made Abraham's faith stronger! It says that he was "fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised". I know that I could grow in being "fully convinced". I need to just trust that God will always do what he promises.

I'M READING THROUGH REVELATION

And it is really good. I used to not like it because I was afraid of Jesus coming back. I loved my life on earth so much I couldn't imagine not growing up, not going to college, not having my own family, etc. I was also afraid because I wasn't sure when Jesus is coming back. But, God has helped me to anticipate his return. He has told me that heaven is so much better than anything on this earth. So now, I am reading through the book of the Bible that is all about Jesus' return and heaven.

Yesterday, I the parts I read repeatedly referred to Jesus as "the first and the last" and "the one who was, who is, and is to come". It really struck me that Jesus was before time, at the beginning of time, through all of history, now, in the future, at the end of time, and through all of eternity. And he is in our hearts right now, if we believe in him.

Today, I read the parts near the beginning of Revelation when Jesus addresses each of the seven churches. I noticed that he always encouraged them first, pointing out the good fruit in their lives (love, patience, etc.). Then, he reproves them, telling them about their sin. I realized that I need to do that more often: encourage first, then gently bring observations of sin.

I hope this is encouraging! Thanks for reading!

Sarah

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

Here is the final part of my 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 study. Sorry it took so long!

Verses:

Psalm 118:1 – Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalm 118:1 tells us that we should be thankful for God's steadfast love for us. If we pray for thankfulness, and dwell on how much God loves us, God gives us thankfulness. Colossians adds that we should be thankful in whatever we do. We take a lot of things for granted; most things we have, actually. If we stop and write down all the things we have and should be thankful for, it would help us be more thankful. We should also be thankful for things that may seem bad in our lives. Please read this section from "The Hiding Place" about this. (For those of you who haven't read it, the "I" is Corrie ten Boom.)

"We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!"

I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room. "Such as?" I said.

"Such as being assigned here together."

I bit my lip. "Oh yes, Lord Jesus!"

"Such as what you're holding in your hands."

I looked down at the Bible. "Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages."

"Yes," said Betsie. "Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we're packed so close, that many more will hear!" She looked at me expectantly. "Corrie!" She prodded.

"Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds."

"Thank You," Betsie went on serenely, "for the fleas and for–"

The fleas! This was too much. "Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea."

"'Give thanks in all circumstances,'" she quoted. "It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."

And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.

Later in the book, we see the good that came from the fleas.

One night I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. . . . Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.

"You're looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself," I told her.

"You know we've never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room," she said. "Well–I've found out."

That afternoon, she said, there'd been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they'd asked the supervisor to come and settle it.

"But she wouldn't. She wouldn't step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?"

Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: "Because of the fleas! That's what she said, 'That place is crawling with fleas!'"

My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie's bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.

This is an example of how God uses things that seem to be bad for our good. Isn't it so cool? :)

Something to remember when we don't feel thankful is that Jesus died for us so that we can go to heaven forever. If, with God's help, we can be thankful for something as big as that, we can remember to thank God for the little blessings (and trials, little or big) in our lives.

I hope reading this has left you encouraged!

Sarah :)

PART 2: PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

I would like to share my notes from my devotions yesterday on the second command in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 with you. So, everything below is pretty much exactly what I have in my notebook. :)

Verses:

1. 1 Timothy 2:1 – "First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,"

2. Philippians 4:6 – "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

3. Matthew 26:41 – "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Notes:

Timothy tells us that there are different kinds of prayer; some of these are requests thanksgiving, and praise (not all of these are mentioned in the 1 Timothy verse). This tells us that we can pray about anything we feel on our hearts; whether we are struggling with a certain sin, or thankful for God's blessings, or just aware of how great God is. God loves to hear us pray. He loves when we call on him for help, and when we give him all the glory instead of giving it to ourselves. When we are anxious, like Philippians says, we can call on God and ask him for help, to give us what we need. Then we will not be tempted to sin by being anxious. Matthew 26:41 tells us to "watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." This tells us that we must fight against the temptations of the devil by praying. It also mentions that the flesh is weak. We don't have the desire to pray on our own. But with the Holy Spirit in us, we are strengthened, and will have the desire to pray. God will make it easier for us to pray about everything by his Holy Spirit. By prayer, also, we can ask God for faith that he will answer our prayers.

After taking notes, I prayed that God would help me to pray about everything more. I asked him to help me to thank and praise him more, especially. I also prayed that I would pray when I face a struggle, or if I am about to sin and need help, and that I would pray when I feel weak and not able to do what God has called me to do.

I hope this post has been encouraging!

-Sarah :)

PART 1: REJOICE ALWAYS

My quiet time yesterday was focused on the first command of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - Rejoice always. Here is what I learned from this.

First, I found three verses that helped me understand this command better.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. - Habakkuk 3:17-18

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. - James 1:2-3

Then, I meditated on the verses and found out what I could about joy, and what it means to rejoice always! Here is what I learned:

Habakkuk tells us that even though bad things may happen to us, we can still be joyful because we don't have to put our hope and joy in those things, but in our salvation in Jesus Christ alone. Then, since we always have salvation, we can always have joy.

James 1:2-3 backs this up by saying that we should be joyful in the midst of trials, because trials test our faith, and that produces steadfastness. We should think and be joyful about the end result of our trials, instead of dwelling on how much misery we may be feeling.

The result of doing this is revealed in Proverbs 17:22, "A joyful heart is good medicine". Since, throughout the Bible, God tells us to be joyful, and joy is a fruit of the spirit, there are good consequences that come from obeying God by being joyful.

After studying the verses I found, I prayed that God would help me to look beyond the trial I may be facing, and at the good consequences that come from being joyful during the trial. I prayed that I would always find joy in the fact that I am saved and am one of God's children, because salvation is something to be joyful about, no matter what we may face.

I hope that this has encouraged you!

-Sarah :)

1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18

As some of you may have noticed, the name of my blog comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says,

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I have decided to have a little personal 3-day Bible study in my devotions, focusing on one command in this passage every morning. That day, with God's help, I will apply what I studied that morning. My 3-day study would go like something like this:

Day 1: Rejoice Always (Identify situations that I wouldn't be joyful in, and ask God to help me to be joyful in those areas.)

Day 2: Pray Without Ceasing (Ask God to help me to pray to him about everything, all the time.)

Day 3: Give Thanks in All Circumstances (This one is similar to "Rejoice Always". I will identify things that I am not thankful for, and ask God to help me to be thankful for them.)

Maybe this is something you feel like you should do, too! I think it will really help me in these areas. I will try to post about every day that I do this, and share what I learn.

Thanks for reading!