August 12, 2015

"It (love) always perseveres....." I Corinthians 13:7

Through many years of ministry I have been privileged to share life with hundreds of people in about every life circumstance imaginable. One thing I have learned from walking through these experiences is the power of the human will.

I have seen those strong-willed people who clung to faith and steeled their resolve and endured extremely challenging challenges. They just simply refused to quit believing or praying or praising or hoping. Their perseverance brought them victory - some in this life and some in the next life. I did my best to inspire them and encourage them but they inspired me!

There have been others who were not able to persevere in their faith or maintain their hope. Some gave up on faith. Some gave up on life. They broke my heart.

It has amazed me how often I've seen a terminally ill person decide they have suffered enough and decide they want to die. Within hours they die. I have seen others fight and refuse to give up and stretch their lives far longer than anyone expected.

The Apostle Paul was a strong-willed person before he found Christ but the love of God added to his ability to endure. He is a great example of what happens when a strong-willed person surrenders his will to a Will stronger than his own!

Here are a few examples in his own words:

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."  Galatians 6:9

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him." Hebrews 12:1-1

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm."  Ephesians 6:13

Do you have the will to persevere? Are you determined to stand your ground and never retreat?

You will if you will give your will to Him!

August 11, 2015

"It (love) always perseveres." I Corinthians 13:7

Perhaps you have visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier you will see the changing of the guard ceremony every half hour during the warmer months and every hour the rest of the time. 

The Tomb has been guarded continually 24 hours a day and seven days per week for fifty-two weeks a year since 1937. In other words, the Tomb has never gone unguarded for the past 78 years.

Through searing heat, frigid cold, driving rain storms and even hurricanes the Tomb has been guarded.

That is perseverance!

What has driven the guards to be so diligent for nearly eight decades?

Duty, honor and brotherhood are three good reasons.

This is interesting and inspiring information but why am I sharing it in conjunction with this Scripture verse? I am sharing it because it is illustrates the meaning of "love perseveres".

The Greek word translated "persevere" or "endure" was a military term for standing guard, holding their ground without retreat. A soldier, out of love for country and his sense of duty and honor, will never yield his position in the heat of battle even defending it to the death.

This is the enduring love God has for you! Jesus persevered through the beating and the cursing and the crucifixion because of His love!

When God's love is active in your life you will have an enduring love. It is a love that is steadfast. It is a love that lasts through all manner of hurts and hardships.

How lasting is your love?

August 10, 2015

"It (love) always trusts, always hopes...." I Corinthians 13:7

Always giving God the benefit of the doubt is evidence that His love is active in your life.

But love also requires you to give others the benefit of the doubt as well. That is what God's Word calls us to do.

One of the things that makes FredWes such an amazing fellowship is we believe in each other. We give one another the benefit of the doubt. 

That means we speak well of each other.

It means we are quick to believe the best of each other and very hesitant to believe anything else. Because we want the best for each other we believe the best for each other. If we have reason to doubt we prayerfully and humbly talk it over.

We defend one another from gossip or rumor.

A fellowship that always trust will be a church filled with hope! It will be an inspiring uplifting place!

A church like that makes it easy to believe and easy to belong! A church like that is powerful.

FredWes was at its best today as we baptized nine new believers who had come to Christ because of how the FredWes family believed in them!

The world needs more churches like that!

A church like that loves people to life.

I am blessed to lead a church like that!

August 9, 2016

There once was a man who was ship-wrecked and stranded on a remote island. Every day he prayed asking God to send someone to rescue him, but to his disappointment, no one ever came.

Month after lonely month dragged past and out of necessity the man learned how to survive on the island. During this time, he accumulated things from the island and stored them in a hut that he constructed. One day after hunting for food and returning back to his hut, to his horror he saw that his hut was afire along with everything else he owned.

He collapsed to his knees and watched helplessly as all he owned went up in smoke! the only thing he had left were the clothes on his back. After the initial shock wore off he became consumed with anger and rage.

In his fury he looked to the sky, shook his fist toward and began yelling, "God, how could you let this happen to me? I've been praying diligently every day for months begging you to send someone to rescue me. Now all I get is this fire that destroyed everything I have except the clothes I am wearing. Why did you let this happen to me? How could you?

The man so exhausted himself in his grief that he fell asleep on the beach. When he awoke he sat up to catch sight of a ship sailing in his direction. The ship landed on the shore and the man was finally rescued. When he met up with the ship's captain he asked him, "How were you able to find me?"

We were sailing near your island when we saw your smoke signal and knew someone was in distress so we came in to check it out. That's how we found you!

How do you think this man felt after he had doubted God?

Have you ever doubted God?

Have you ever accused Him falsely?

I Corinthians 13:7 says, "It (love) always trusts, always hopes...."

The word used for "trust" means "to give the benefit of the doubt" or "to judge charitably". This poor man in the midst of his trouble and distress forgot to give God the benefit of the doubt. Fortunately God extended the benefit of the doubt to him and sent the rescuers.

Perhaps you can relate with poor fellow's plight. Maybe you feel God has left you stranded in a lonely situation and He seems tone deaf toward you prayers. Perhaps, like him, you have lost hope of being rescued from your dire situation.

What can you do?

I suggest you do as he did. I recommend you decide to give God the benefit of the doubt in your pain or suffering. When you begin doing that you will be amazed at what will happen to you. What will happen is hope will start rising within you!

Where would you be if God ever failed to give you the benefit of the doubt?

Doesn't God deserve the benefit of the doubt from you?

August 8, 2015

"It (love) always trusts, always hopes....." I Corinthians 13:7

I wouldn't be a Christian for nearly 60 years if I hadn't learned to always give God the benefit of the doubt and to remain hopeful in the face of discouragement. I am thankful I learned early in life that when I wave the will God makes the way!

When I always want to trust and always want to hope, God enables me through His Spirit to do those things.

One of my inspirations in this effort is Noah! Here's his story as recorded in Hebrews 11 - the Hall of Faith:

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith." Hebrews 11:7

Here's the short on the story of Noah, he repeatedly (120 years?) gave God the benefit of the doubt and continually hoped for the salvation of his family.

For the rest of the story, Noah had several reasons to doubt! Let us count the ways:

Noah had never seen rain 

He had no concept of a flood

Noah had never built a boat 

Possibly he had never seen a boat

BUT, Noah gave God the benefit of the doubt at every point every day!

Imagine every day for over a century Noah arose and went to work building something he had never built to prepare for something he knew nothing about! He had to cut the trees, drag the logs back to his place, mill the lumber from the wood, make the nails, make the pitch for sealing the cracks, build the tools, and endure the ridicule of his neighbors the whole time he labored on the ark!

No wonder Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord!

No doubt, Noah found hope in the promise God had given him for the saving of his family!

The more you give God the benefit of the doubt the fewer doubts you will have and the more hope you will experience.

I think you can confidently say that Noah always trusted and always hoped. Therefore it is safe to say Noah loved God!

Will you love God today?

If you want to love Him and experience His love then give Him the benefit of the doubt at the very point where you are tempted to doubt!

As you do that you will find yourself being filled by God's hope and love!

August 7, 2015

"It (love) always trusts, always hopes" I Corinthians 13:7

There are three important reasons we are studying I Corinthians 13:4-8 this Summer.

First, these four verses describe and demonstrate the love, the unconditional "agape" love, God has you. How does God love you? Read the verses!

Second, it is important to understand how God wants you to love others.

The Great Commandment says to "love God completely and love others passionately". I Corinthians 13:4-8 shows you what that sort of love looks like.

Third, this portion of Scripture gives you a way of knowing if God's love is active in your life!

Experiencing this great Godly love begins with your decision to trust God for your salvation. Trusting God means you give God the benefit of the doubt. When you are tempted to doubt God's Word or His will or His work in your life, instead you give Him the benefit of the doubt.

That's one aspect of what it means to "always trust" - to always give God the benefit of the doubt.

Something amazing happens as you commit to "always trusting", hope begins to grow within you. There is hope when you believe God is trustworthy but not much hope when you don't believe He is.

This reminds me of Hebrews 11, the "Faith Chapter":

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Hebrews 11:1-3

If you want a blessing, study this 11th Chapter of Hebrews to see how these heroes of faith "always trusted" by always giving God the benefit of the doubt. When God asked them to do some BIG and DANGEROUS things, they trusted Him rather than doubting Him.

Notice how as these heroes made decisions to trust the Person of God, He gave them hope by promising them some wonderful blessings.You could say that "always trusting" means refusing to doubt the Person of God and "always hoping" means trusting the promises of God!

Enjoy your meditation!

August 6, 2015

"It (always) trusts, always hopes....." I Corinthians 13:7

The great Mark Twain once said, "If a cat sits on a hot stove it won't sit on a hot stove again. But it won't sit on a cold one either!"

All good humor has an element of truth and Twain's statement is absolutely true!

After a brief chuckle, ask yourself, "What is his point in this humorous remark?"

His point is this, if you get burned in life it is much harder to trust after that. If you have been on planet Earth more than a year or two you have been burnt in a relationship or a business deal or in a church.

Once you have had your trust betrayed, how much harder is it to trust again?

Been there and done that? 

Have a few trust issues?

When you lose trust you also lose hope, don't you?

How can you trust again?

How do you have your hope restored?

The good news it there is a love that makes it possible to trust again.

There is a love you can hope in!

Trust me on this!

No, actually, trust Him on this!

You want to trust again, I know you do! Life is too lonely when you can't trust.

The word used for trust in the original has the idea of "trying to trust" or "being willing to trust". If you are willing to trust God He will help you! He will prove Himself to you!

All you have to do is be willing to approach the stove again and He will touch it for you to show you that it is safe! He will let you know which stoves are hot and which ones are safe!

Here's what you need to understand about this portion of Scripture. It not only demonstrates how you are to love but it describes how you are loved! God believes in you even when you struggle to believe in Him! 

So, if you have trust issues trust Him with them!