The Best Expression Of Love Is Time!

The importance of things can be measured by how much time we are willing to invest in them. The more time you give to something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you. If you want to know a person's priorities, just look at how they use their time.

Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you will never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.

It is not enough just to say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. The Bible says, " My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." 1John 3:18. Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is "T-I-M-E."

The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves. Men, in particular, often do not understand this. Many have said to me, "I don't understand my wife and kids. I provide everything they need. What more could they want?" The answer is they want you! Your eyes, your ears, your time, your attention, your presence, your focus - your time. Nothing can take the place of that.

The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolate. It is focused attention. Love concentrates so intently on another that you forget yourself at that moment. Attention says, "I value you enough to give you my most precious asset - my time. "Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is the essence of love. Jesus modeled this: "Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave Himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins." Ephesians 5:2.

You can give without loving, many people do it everyday, but you cannot love without giving. "God so loved the world that He gave...." John 3:16. Love means giving up - yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy, or time for the benefit of someone else.

Sometimes procrastination is a legitimate response to a trivial task, especially with our lives being so busy today. But because love is what matters most, it should take top priority. The Bible says, "Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone. Galatians 6:10. "Use every chance you have for doing good." Ephesians 5:16. "Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now." Proverbs 3:27.

Why is now the best time to express love? Because you don't know how long you will have the opportunity. Circumstances change. People die. Children grow up. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. If you want to express love, you had better do it now.

Knowing that one day you will stand before God, here are some of the questions you need to consider: How will you explain those times when projects or things were more important to you than people? Who do you need to start spending more time with? What do you need to cut out of your schedule to make that possible? What sacrifices do you need to make?

The bottom line is that the best use of life today is love. The best expression of love is time. And the best time to love is now!

..
.
..

How Do I Forgive My Enemies?

Jesus said in Mathew 5: 43-44, " You have heard that is was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."

The first step in forgiveness is to recognize your resentment against an enemy. You must understand who the enemy is and what he has done to hurt you. Then you must consciously say, "I forgive that person for the following wrongs against me." Then repent of you feelings against your enemy and ask God to forgive you, as Jesus said in Luke 11:4.

After that, begin to pray actively for your enemy's good. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and that doing this will help to fill us with love for them, (Mathew 5:43-48). When you pray for your enemies, asking God to meet their needs and manifest Himself to them, you are overcoming evil with good. Instead of fighting negative thoughts in your mind, you are filling your mind with positive thoughts of God's love for that person. You are now on the side of your enemy; you have a spiritual stake in his well being. If God answers your prayer, which you want Him to do, the person prayed for will be blessed, and you will have a deeper understanding of redemption - the ultimate form of forgiveness, (Mathew 18: 21-35). So if you ask God to bless someone who has wronged you, the result may well be a repentant sinner, and a new brother or sister in the Lord!
..

What Drives Your Life?

Everyone's life is driven by something.

The dictionary defines the word drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct." Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment.

So my question for you today is...

What is the driving force in your life?

Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. The Book of Ecclesiastes can help you greatly in your search of the truth to the answers you may be looking for, finding real unchanging values, (to profit) in this life.

Let's look at some of the things that may be driving your life today.

Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God's presence, and God said, "You will be restless and wander the earth." (Genesis 4:12) That describes most people today - wandering through life without a purpose.

We are all products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader, and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero. He can do amazing things with the rest of your life also. God specializes in giving people a fresh start. The Bible says, "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! ... What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record." (Psalm 32:1)

Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resentment-driven people "clam up" and internalize their anger, while others "blow up" and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.

Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past.

Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past. Nothing will change it. You are hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, I challenge you to learn from it, and then let it go. The Bible says, "To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, and senseless thing to do." (Job 5:2)

Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they are afraid to venture out. Nothing ventured is nothing gained. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.

Fear, False Evidence Appearing Real, is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love. The Bible says, "Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment, - is one not yet fully formed in love. (1John 4:18)

Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make one happier, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, and better versions.

It is also a myth that if you get more, you will become more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things. They are just tools for fulfilling your calling and destiny.

The most common myth about money is that having more will make you more secure. It won't. Wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can only be found in that which can never be taken from you - your relationship with God.

Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents, spouses, children, teachers, or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.

I do not know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is in trying to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters." (Mathew 6:24)

There are many other forces that can drive your life, but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life. The answer clearly lies in God's Word, and the Finished Work of the Cross. We must really take a look back, back about 2000 years ago, at what really happened to us. This will give us the insight to our future. A life guided, controlled, and directed by God's purposes. Without doing this, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason.
..

What Is Love?

The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman (Eros) in Greek—and the unselfish love of others (Agape), are often contrasted as "ascending" and "descending" love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing.

There are several Greek words for "Love" that are regularly referred to in Christian circles.

* Agape: In the New Testament, is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love, seen as creating goodness in the world; it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.

* Phileo: Also used in the New Testament, Phileo is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as "Brotherly Love."

* Two other words for love in the Greek language, Eros (sexual love) and Storge (child-to-parent love), were never used in the New Testament.

Christians believe that to Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important things in life, (the greatest commandments of the Bible, according to Jesus; Mark 12:28–34).

The Apostle Paul glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing the essence of love, and the 14 characteristics of it he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." (1 Cor. 13:4–7)

• Love suffers long, having patience with imperfect people.
• Love is kind, active in doing good.
• Love does not envy; since it is nonpossessive and noncompetitive, it actually wants other people to get ahead. Hence, it does not parade itself.
• Love has a self-effacing quality; it is not ostentatious.
• Love is not puffed up, treating others arrogantly; it does not behave rudely, but displays good manners and courtesy.
• Love does not seek its own rights and demanding precedence; rather it is unselfish.
• Love is not provoked; it is not irritable or touchy, rough, or hostile, but is graceful under pressure.
• Love thinks no evil; it does not keep an account of wrongs done to it; instead it erases resentments.
• Love does not rejoice in iniquity, finding satisfaction in the shortcomings of others and spreading an evil report; rather, it rejoices in the truth, aggressively advertising the good.
• Love bears all things, defending and holding other people up.
• Love believes the best about others; credits them with good intentions, and is not suspicious.
• Love hopes all things, never giving up on people, but affirming their future.
• Love endures all things, persevering and remaining loyal to the end.

The Apostle John wrote, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16–18)

• True love is not conditional, it is unconditional.
• It covers a multitude of sin.
• Love is a choice.

John also wrote, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7–8)

One must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust is an overindulgence, but to love and be loved is what is sought for our entire lives. One does fall in love and is loved back, by God. The only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as “jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention.” To love God is “to attain the peace which is yours.”

God is the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships.

"God is love." All human beings, are created in the image of God, who is love, are able to practice love; to give themselves to God and to others (Agape) and by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation, and expectation, (which is a form of Eros). This life of love, is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them. Without love, the most magnificent manifestation of gifts and the most heroic self-sacrificing mean nothing.
..

How Do I Receive The Baptism In The Holy Spirit?

.....Peter says in Acts 2:38-39, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.

.....Peter calls upon all to change their opinion of and attitude toward Christ and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ as public acknowledgment that they have accepted Jesus as Messiah and Lord. "Name" suggests nature and character; therefore, to be baptized "in the name of Jesus" is to confess Him to be all that His name denotes. Baptism in and of itself is not a means of forgiveness and salvation. But for the early Church, however, there was no separation between ritual, and reality. Coming to Christ and being baptized were mutually inclusive. One thing to note is that the gift of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the gifts of the Spirit. The former is the Holy Spirit Himself, while the latter are the special abilities granted by the Spirit to equip believers for service, (1Cor 12:1-31).

.....The promise of the Holy Spirit, is a gift for every believer in every generation. All who are afar off includes the Gentiles as well. Every believer in every era and everywhere, have the surety to expect the same resource and experience that was afforded the first believers who received the Holy Spirit at the birth of the Church.

So, How do I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

.....You need to do a number of things in order to receive this blessing. First, you need to be born again. The person who is going to be filled with the Spirit must have the indwelling Spirit and must belong to Jesus, (Romans 8:9).

.....The second you have to do is ask. The Bible says, if we ask for the Holy Spirit, that prayer will be answered, (Luke 11:8).

.....The third thing you have to do is surrender. The Apostle Paul made this need very clear in the Book of Romans when he said, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, (Romans 12:1).

.....Fourth, you must be willing to obey the Spirit. God does not give this power to someone and then say, "You can take the parts you like in all this and leave the parts you do not like." If you want to be immersed in the Holy Spirit, you need to be prepared to obey the Spirit, (Acts 5:32).

.....Fifth, you need to believe. The Apostle Paul said, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2). The answer, obviously, is faith. You have to believe that if you ask, you will receive.

.....Finally, you have to exercise what God has given you. Having asked, having received, having been willing to obey, you need to respond in a biblical fashion.

.....The Bible says that those baptized with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," (Acts 2:4). This means they spoke the words that the Spirit gave them. The Holy Spirit gave the words, but the Apostles and the Disciples voluntarily responded. There was action based on faith, not merely passive acceptance of the blessing. That is the way it is with God, yesterday, today, and forever. God is offering the baptism in the Holy Spirit to people who need only to reach out and take it, and then enjoy the blessing.
..

How Do I Pray For A Miracle?

.....When we are faced with a great need, either for ourselves or for others, we should begin by humbly seeking to know God's will in the matter; "Father, what do You want to do in this situation?" Jesus said, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working," (John 5:17). He listened to the voice of the Father, and He watched Him. Be careful not to start or end a prayer by saying blindly, "If it be Your will." Rather, you should seek to know God's will in the situation and then base your prayer upon it. Praying for a miracle is welcoming a gift of the Holy Spirit to manifest. When His will is to work one, He will witness that to your heart. Then you can ask Him to perform the miracle that you know He wants to bring about.

.....It is often important to exercise a key to the miraculous - the spoken word. God has given us authority over disease, demons, sickness, storms, and finances, (Mathew 10:1; Luke 10:19). Often, we may keep asking God to act, when, in fact, He calls us to employ His authority in Jesus' name: we may command needed funds to come to us, command a storm to be stilled, command a demon to come out, command affliction to leave, even command a sickness to depart.

.....Jesus said, "Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says," (Mark 11:23). Believe in your heart that it has already happened! With the anointing of faith that God gives you, speak it forth. But remember, miracles come by faith in God's present power, not by ritual or formula of human works or willpower.
..