"Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread." (Isaiah 8:11-13) The Bible has a lot to say about "fear." In short, fearing the wrong things or wrong people can lead to your death, while appropriate fear will lead to life.
Valentine's day, among the other 364, is another good day to love well. We hope our Valentines Sweet-Heart Gift Guide will provide inspiration for year-round good gift giving to the ones you love: you'll find body-care recipes that are free from toxic dyes and perfumes, sweet treats that you can make at home with thoughtfully sourced ingredients and especially, words to live by, food for your spirit and your heart. Be equipped to love and be loved.
Being effective and productive in life begins with our minds, and understanding the “great and precious promises” that Christ has given us, and the “divine power” that is available to us. But it then moves beyond the intellectual knowledge, and produces faith in our life to put into practice the things we know are true. What good are great and precious promises and divine power if we never use them and put them into practice? When we put them into practice, we possess the qualities of an effective and productive life that are listed here by Peter: faith – goodness – knowledge – self control – perseverance – godliness – brotherly kindness – love.
The measurement of those who know God best is not their intellectual understanding of the Bible, or social issues, or political issues. Instead, those who know God best show it in their love for one another! And Jesus was our supreme example, showing us a love the world had never seen before.
Jesus had spent the past three years with his closest disciples, and his teaching while residing in their physical presence was about to come to an end. He was about to be arrested and then executed within hours. He had one more lesson for these disciples, and it was the greatest lesson of all. Learning this lesson would completely change their lives, and also completely change the world.
What is love? What power does true love have to bring about healing?
Jesus took the command of the “Golden Rule” to love someone as you love yourself to a whole new level. He loved others MORE than he loved his own life. He treated others as MORE important than himself. He gave up his very life for the sake of others – the most extreme expression of human love possible.
Is it possible to please God, to make him happy? Are God’s feelings toward me affected by anything I can control? Yes! Starting with the truth that God exists and that he created us, the way we think and the way we live our lives, most certainly do affect the way God feels about us. So how can we please God?
by Brian Shilhavy
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
Sin is the number one cause of all sickness and disease in the world today. When God first created the world, it was a perfect world with no faults: no sickness or disease, and […]
