Love in the English language can mean so many different things which also means it takes a lot more than the word itself to explain exactly what you are talking about when you use the word “love”.  The other important factor to remember when people speak of loving something or someone is that the words roll all too easily off the tongue while the consequences or true meaning of it are rarely under consideration.  When Jesus said to love one another, He was speaking of the love that He had for us and that he lived and practiced in His life and ministry here on earth.  For us to understand the Greek word for God’s love, “agape love” we have to look to the example that Jesus gives us.  One such instance in scripture that teaches us about Jesus’ love is found in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John.   The apostles have an argument or a debate about who was the greatest amongst them.  Jesus knowing they are struggling with being humble and not having pride demonstrates to them what He has taught them multiple times that had fallen on deaf ears.  They entered the room where they were to partake of the Last Supper and Jesus already knew what was coming for Him and who was going to betray Him and who was going to deny Him and run from Him at His arrest.  Being knowledgeable of all these things, and that He would be all on His own, except for His Father, He picked up the towel, and he washed his traitors feet, the denyers feet and scared rabbits feet.  This message expounds on this love that Jesus had for all who want salvation and it is also the love that He wants us to have for each other.  God bless you as you listen to this message and may it help you to grow spiritually and in your relationship with God. 

The Old Testament holds a lot of great illustrations that can help the Christian in their walk with God and His Son, the Christ.  One such illustration that is predominant throughout scripture is that idea that God wants His people to be a distinctive nation of saints, priests, a people for His own possession, to proclaim the excellencies of Him to the dark and dying world.  The example from the Old Testament that we look at in this message shows us the struggle that Israel had with being God’s distinctive people. There are many reasons for this but it all boils down to the fact that our human nature, when it is not fully surrendered to God, leads us into all sorts of troubles, struggles and grief.  Rather than remaining distinctive, they continually wanted to blend in with the nations around them.  They wanted to be like those nations, not realizing that when they did that, they lost their distinctiveness with God and became traitors to the covenant they had made with God.  They were only distinct in nature because of their allegiance with God.  In the same way, God designed His church to be distinctive in nature from the societies and cultures around them.  Again the desire to blend in, to be “normal” as the world sees normal, and to be like everyone else, the church all too often goes away from God and His design and starts doing things the way they think it should be done. That is why the church in most cases has lost its identity with Christ because they are not distinctive in nature like Christ.  Our distinctiveness comes from Christ and when we do it our way, well we fail and lose all distinctiveness.  When that happens, we have nothing to offer the people. When we are most unlike those around us and like Christ is when we are most effective to minister to them and share Jesus' real and true gospel. 

Scripture expressly teaches us that throughout Bible history, people of God were people who meditated on the word of God, be it called His statutes, precepts, promises, commandments, law, or word of God.  In the case of all of these, we find meditation referred to mostly in the book of Psalms.  There are 5 specific Hebrew words in scripture that are translated “meditate” in the English language.  Meditate in the English language has as many descriptive words as the Hebrew or more.  It can mean musing, contemplating, mulling over, studying, reflecting, thing on, evaluating, consuming, and many more.   Meditation is spoken of in the Bible being done day and night, early in the morning, late at night, in the middle of the night on in bed as it is an ongoing, constant need and practice.  I have met people who would like the word of God to come to them by osmosis, but that will not happen.  Anything worth having is worth working for and when it comes to the word of God, that is multiplied significantly.  Meditation is how we learn and grow and have a more meaningful and understanding relationship with God.  It is also how the word of God is written on our hearts and on our minds.  The result of that is the word being our practice and action in our lives in every situation we might find ourselves in.  In this message we will look at the 5 Hebrew words and their uses in scripture.  As we do that, we will also see what we can glean from those passages to help us in our practice of meditating on the word of God in our lives.  Having a living daily application of scripture in our lives will help us as we strive to live a godly life that glorifies our Savior and Father in Heaven.  God bless you to this end as you live for Him each day. 

Fear in this world is as common as the dirt of the ground.  Everyone experiences fear in this world, to varying degrees.  Some are controlled by fear, some react negatively to fear and some learn how to control fear and not let it destroy them.  What is intriguing, is that in the scriptures God’s people are told approximately 50 times not to fear when in one situation or another.  To this end, Jesus emphasizes a few specific times in this life when we should not fear.  As we look at these three things we are not to fear, it becomes clear that the only one who deserves our fear, which is not the same fear, but a loving reverential respect with a humble heart, is God Himself.  Nothing in this world in regards to living a God fearing life, requires our fear of anyone or anything on this earth, because nothing can take you away from your Savior.  Death is not to be feared because Jesus has already defeated death and has extended eternal life to us.  And suffering in the name of our Lord and Savior is not to be feared because we are in Jesus Christ and we will overcome just as He overcame the world on the cross.  This is a difficult lesson to apply to our lives when facing horrible and evil situations. However, this is where faith comes in.  Faith in Christ will get you through this life with all of its struggles, evil, and ugliness and into the next life with Him.  Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven.