This is a video post. For my e-mail subscribers who can’t see the video, click here.

1 Corinthians 12-13 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 12:1-13:13.

“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” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

I’ve often read this and talked about putting away the childish thing in this passage. However, today the other side of this passage struck me. What must I embrace in order to put on manhood? Love. “The greatest of these is love.” No wonder Peter caps off the list of Christian growth in II Peter 1:5-8 with love.

That’s right. The #1 way to be a man is to love. No, not to have sex. That’s what the world says. God’s way for manhood is to love. To see people as people, not objects of lust. To know they have hopes and dreams, fears and doubts, failures and victories. Then to seek their best and help them accomplish those things. To freely sacrifice self for others, not to gain anything from them or because of a sense of obligation, but simply because their good is our goal.

That’s what Jesus did for us by growing to the cross. He was a real man. I need to follow in His glorious footsteps.

Grow up! Be a man! Love!

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Click Here.

——————————————-

*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Acts 3-4 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Acts 3:1-4:37.

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, and no one said that any of the thing that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32).

I’m not alone. I have a fellowship on which I can rely. What are my needs? I can turn to my brethren and lay them out. God will provide through them. Is my need material? We can help each other. Is my need spiritual? We can rely on each other. Is my need emotional? We can rejoice and weep with each other.

Only when I share my neediness and rely on the fellowship of God’s people are my needs met. I need to quit waiting around for someone to read my mind and heart. Instead, I need to partake in the fellowship of God’s family. I need to reach out and let someone know what is going on. Then I find the help that I need.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can give your input by clicking here.

——————————————-

*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is 1 John 4:1-5:21.

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

God has provided me a litmus test. I know that He works everything out for good for those who love Him. How do I know if I love Him? This text says I look to the way I relate to His children around me.

If I hate people, I don’t love God. I simply cannot. But beyond that, if I view the brethren around me as folks who are here for my benefit, to use, abuse, dominate, then I don’t love them. And I don’t love God. If I am constantly working to prove I am better than all those people around me, then I don’t love them. And I don’t love God. If I view others as my servants, put here for my good pleasure, to stand on, walk on, and simply see what I can get from them, I don’t love them. And I don’t love God.

I need to take a good long look at how I really view the brethren I have seen. It will help me understand how I view my God whom I have not seen. That will show me where I still need work and God’s grace.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 John 2:1-3:24.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1).

What more needs to be said? God has called me His son. Considering all I’ve done wrong, all the mistakes and sins, all the weaknesses, all the rebellion, He still looks at me and says I’m His child. He loves me.

Today, I’m going to lean on that love in order to love Him in return. Why would I do otherwise?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Matthew 21:1-22:46.

“And he said to them, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

This is all I have to do today. Love God. Love my neighbor. No doubt, to understand this love I need to get into God’s word and learn how. But when I boil it down to brass tacks, this is what I need to do today. Everything else is unnecessary. I don’t have to buy things. I don’t have to go places. I don’t have to accomplish tasks. I just need to give myself to God and pursue the actions of love.

If I keep it this simple, I can probably do better at it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4:18.

“…and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).

Here is the struggle. I want to love others, but they have hurt me. I want to love others, but they do wrong. I want to love others, but the fact is most of us are so unlovable. What do we do about that? We recognize that the kind of love we need to have for each other is the kind of love God has for us. We recognize that the strength for that kind of love can only come from the One who already has that kind of love.

If I am filled with God’s love, then His love will spill out into my relationship with others. I need to pray that God will fill me with His love today. I need to pray that God will strengthen me to love as He does today. And notice why. This text says it is through loving others God’s way that my heart is established as blameless in holiness. My heart is not established a blameless in holiness simply because I can declare and follow a pattern regarding the work of the church. My heart is established when the love of God flows from my life toward others just as He has loved me.

That is a tall order. It can only be done by the strength of God.

Father, grant me the strength to love today. Let me love others as you have loved me. Fill me with your love and love others through me. Thank you for your love. I love you.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS: What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 17:1-18:43.

“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:15-16).

God has healed me of more than leprosy. However, I find it is easy to forget about that as I press on with my daily life and routine. How quickly I can take for granted God’s precious gifts. When I take the time to write out a gratitude list and then pray it, I can’t believe the grace that fills my life. I am reminded that God really isn’t picking on me with the bad things but is abundantly supplying me with good things. How can I be depressed and despairing when I remember these blessings? My fears that God won’t take care of me tomorrow start to abate. Thanksgiving is good for me. 

An example: Right now I’m breathing deeply and there is still oxygen. My fingers are able to move across this keyboard. I am able to get out of bed and drive to the office today. I still have food in my refrigerator and pantry today. I have clean clothes to wear today. My children are sleeping healthfully this morning; so is my wife. But more than these physical blessings, I’m able to pray today, read my Bible today, be in fellowship with loving brethren today. I am cleansed today by Jesus’ blood. I am an adopted son of God. My Father owns the universe. (That beats out your Father, unless you are my brother or sister, then we can be thankful together.)

Let me quickly add something. This is not just about our relationship with God. I’ve found great benefit in being thankful to others. Write thank you notes, make thank you calls, send thank you e-mails, just plain old say, “Thank you,” when people provide a benefit to you. Be amazed at how actually saying thanks lifts your day and your outlook on life.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Jude 1:1-25; 1 Corinthians 1:1-31.

What a great reading today. Through Jude, God has told me four things I need to put on my checklist today and every day.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21).

1. Build yourself up in the most holy faith.

What am I going to do today to build my faith? For starters, I’m spending time in God’s word. I think I’ll talk to some other Christians today and seek encouragement in the faith. I’m going to spend some time praying. I think I’ll write a gratitude list to remind me of the many blessings God is showering in my life.

2. Pray in the Holy Spirit

I don’t think this is a reference to prayer through some miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit, but rather a parallel to Romans 8:26-27, recognizing that in my weakness I don’t always know how to pray or for what to pray. However, as long as I’m hanging on to God, the Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. When I pray today, I’m going to do so with confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit to intercede for me in my weaknesses.

3. Keep yourself in the love of God.

That also sounds like Romans 8:31-39. Nothing can separate me from God’s love. However, if I choose, I can walk out of His loving hands. Today, I’m going to work on drawing closer to God through His love. Instead of going my own way, I’m going to consider what God’s love suggests for my life. What would God have me do? I know He loves me and therefore His way will be best for me. 

4. Wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus.

No matter what good or bad things happen in my life today, I’m going to remember that I am turning to God’s love, praying in the Spirit, building up my faith because I’m hanging on to an eternal hope. I love God not because He is giving me a good day or a good week. I love God because He has saved my soul for eternity. That is where my inheritance and reward are: in eternity. I won’t be turned aside from that hope no matter what happens today. I want to keep my mind firmly focused on heavenly things and eternity. 

Well, I guess my plate is full for today. How about yours?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Ephesians 1:1-2:22.

I love Ephesians. There are so many things that jump out at me as I read this book. These first two chapters are no exception. However, I’m only going to comment on two of them for the sake of your time.

First, I am really struck by Ephesians 1:15-16:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers…

Paul gave thanks because of their faith in Jesus and their love toward the saints. Today, I need to work on both of those. I need to increase my faith in Jesus. I don’t need to increase His faith in me. I don’t need to spend my time trying to convince Him that He can trust me to always do what is right. I need to increase my faith in Him and through that, I’ll have the righteousness He gives. I also need to work on my love toward the saints. Again, I don’t need to focus on getting them to love me. I don’t need to walk around as a people pleaser trying to get them to like me or appreciate me. Instead, I need to work on genuine love and service. I need to work on treating others the way they want to be treated because it is right, not because they’ll like me for it. 

When I work on my faith in Jesus and my love toward the saints, then I become a person others can be thankful for.

Second, I am also struck by Ephesians 1:17-19:

…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might…

In Paul’s prayer, I learn what I need to be praying for me and for you. Neither of us have all wisdom and insight. Rather, I need to pray that we may be granted wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. We often wander in darkness and are so blind we don’t even know it. I need to pray that our hearts may be enlightened. Too often, we walk in despair. We get distracted by what is going on in the world and forget what Christ has done for us and what He is planning for us in the next. I need to pray that we may know the hope Christ is offering us that conquers our sadness and despair. We sometimes forget that this life isn’t really about this life. This life is not about having the best job, the biggest house, the nicest cars, the most comfortable clothes. This life is about what comes next. I need to pray that we can keep our eyes focused on the inheritance of true riches that Jesus has waiting for us. Sometimes, we begin to think it is not possible that we’ll make it. We mess up so much we just aren’t sure how God could possibly save us. I need to pray that we be kept by God’s power and also pray that we’ll know God’s power that we might have confidence in Him that we will make it, not because of our strength but because of His power. His power is so immense He raised Jesus from the dead and sat Him in the heavenly places above all things.

This needs to be my prayer today for both you and me. I hope you can join me in this prayer.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?