| Faith Based Pages Devotional |
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- Love, actually
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his
mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own
to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm
bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love does not strut, Doesn't have a
swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others
grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and
what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. When an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled
and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it
won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows
us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love
extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. - 1 Corinthians 13, The Message
– Wisdom for the New Year
Luci Swindoll, Women’s Devotional Bible; "Real Wisdom"
“…There are two kinds of wisdom, the apostle James says: worldly wisdom that is contaminated, ambitious and envious; and heavenly wisdom that is pure,
content, merciful, and submissive. So to be spiritually wise, a person must exhibit understanding, acceptance, and peace. James also says that the one who is
understanding and wise will show it by his ‘good life.’ It’s taken me over 50 years to learn that the good life is not attaining a college degree, succeeding in one’s
career, owning an expensive car, having money in the bank, or vacationing in Hawaii. While that stuff is wonderful and sweet to my worldly tastes, it’s not the good
life. The good life is peace – knowing that I was considerate instead of crabby, that I stood by faithfully when all the chips were down for the other guy, that I
sacrificially gave to a worthy cause, that I showed impartiality when I really wanted my preference, that I was REAL in the midst of phonies, that I was forgiving, that
I had the courage to defer reward for something better down the road. Why couldn’t I have learned this when I was younger?”
James 3: 13 – 18 – “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter
jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly,
natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist there is disorder and every evil thing. but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make
peace.
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his
mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own
to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm
bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love does not strut, Doesn't have a
swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others
grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and
what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. When an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled
and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it
won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows
us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love
extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. - 1 Corinthians 13, The Message
– Wisdom for the New Year
Luci Swindoll, Women’s Devotional Bible; "Real Wisdom"
“…There are two kinds of wisdom, the apostle James says: worldly wisdom that is contaminated, ambitious and envious; and heavenly wisdom that is pure,
content, merciful, and submissive. So to be spiritually wise, a person must exhibit understanding, acceptance, and peace. James also says that the one who is
understanding and wise will show it by his ‘good life.’ It’s taken me over 50 years to learn that the good life is not attaining a college degree, succeeding in one’s
career, owning an expensive car, having money in the bank, or vacationing in Hawaii. While that stuff is wonderful and sweet to my worldly tastes, it’s not the good
life. The good life is peace – knowing that I was considerate instead of crabby, that I stood by faithfully when all the chips were down for the other guy, that I
sacrificially gave to a worthy cause, that I showed impartiality when I really wanted my preference, that I was REAL in the midst of phonies, that I was forgiving, that
I had the courage to defer reward for something better down the road. Why couldn’t I have learned this when I was younger?”
James 3: 13 – 18 – “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter
jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly,
natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist there is disorder and every evil thing. but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make
peace.
- Girlfriends
From Mary Southerland's devotional at Girlfriends in God:
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life for his friends.”
In his book, “The Broken Heart”, Dr. James J. Lynch shows that lonely people live
significantly shorter lives than the general population. While it is a simple fact that we need
each other, friendship is anything but simple. In fact, one of the key elements in a healthy
friendship is risk. Simply put, there is no love without risk. John 15:13 states the truth that
true love, true friendship is willing to sacrifice, to take risks – to lay down your life. When you
lay down your life, you take a chance on being rejected and hurt. At times, you may be
misunderstood and even betrayed. Is friendship really worth it?
From Mary Southerland's devotional at Girlfriends in God:
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life for his friends.”
In his book, “The Broken Heart”, Dr. James J. Lynch shows that lonely people live
significantly shorter lives than the general population. While it is a simple fact that we need
each other, friendship is anything but simple. In fact, one of the key elements in a healthy
friendship is risk. Simply put, there is no love without risk. John 15:13 states the truth that
true love, true friendship is willing to sacrifice, to take risks – to lay down your life. When you
lay down your life, you take a chance on being rejected and hurt. At times, you may be
misunderstood and even betrayed. Is friendship really worth it?
I don’t have a green thumb, but I once had a neighbor in Clinton, Mississippi who did. She grew the most beautiful roses I had ever
seen! Blooms spilled over our backyard fence in a rainbow of colors; pink, yellow, red and white. In the afternoons, when my kids woke
up from their naps, we would head to the back yard where they played and I visited with my neighbor. She always wore heavy, thick
gloves when working the rose bed because of the spiny thorns. Occasionally, however, she would remove the gloves and show me
where a long thorn had left its painful mark, even through the gloves. One day, my son saw her “boo-boo” and asked her why she liked
those “nasty flowers that give you shots”. My neighbor laughed and asked Jered, “Do you think my flowers are pretty?” Jered answered,
“Yes, they are very, very pretty!” My neighbor gently explained, “I think so, too. They are so pretty that they make me forget about the way
they sometimes hurt my hands. I just try to be careful when I handle them so that I don’t get too many hurts.”
seen! Blooms spilled over our backyard fence in a rainbow of colors; pink, yellow, red and white. In the afternoons, when my kids woke
up from their naps, we would head to the back yard where they played and I visited with my neighbor. She always wore heavy, thick
gloves when working the rose bed because of the spiny thorns. Occasionally, however, she would remove the gloves and show me
where a long thorn had left its painful mark, even through the gloves. One day, my son saw her “boo-boo” and asked her why she liked
those “nasty flowers that give you shots”. My neighbor laughed and asked Jered, “Do you think my flowers are pretty?” Jered answered,
“Yes, they are very, very pretty!” My neighbor gently explained, “I think so, too. They are so pretty that they make me forget about the way
they sometimes hurt my hands. I just try to be careful when I handle them so that I don’t get too many hurts.”
Friendship is like that. It will surely bring hurt and an occasional wound, but the beauty of friendship is worth an occasional wound. If we handle the friendship
carefully and with respect, the wounds will be few. For example, it is important to love and cherish our friends, but we cannot hold friends responsible for our
happiness. Jesus Christ is the only friend that will never disappoint or hurt us and we need to expect that all others will. I have a friend who cannot keep
confidences. She would do anything for me…except keep her mouth closed. She is my personal broadcasting system! But because I love her and don’t want to
write her off as a friend, I have simply learned to be cautious about what I tell her.
Every friendship has a price tag dangling from it. Every friendship involves a cost, a risk. 1 Peter 4:8 encourages us to take the risk, to pay the price, to love them
anyway, because “love covers a multitude of sins.” In this verse, “cover” literally means to “hide or overlook” the faults of others. We know that the faults are there,
but we choose to love that person anyway…which is exactly the response we want from a friend. We were created to bear each other’s burdens, to need each
other. Don’t spend another day longing for friendship. Take the first step…take a risk. Be a friend!
carefully and with respect, the wounds will be few. For example, it is important to love and cherish our friends, but we cannot hold friends responsible for our
happiness. Jesus Christ is the only friend that will never disappoint or hurt us and we need to expect that all others will. I have a friend who cannot keep
confidences. She would do anything for me…except keep her mouth closed. She is my personal broadcasting system! But because I love her and don’t want to
write her off as a friend, I have simply learned to be cautious about what I tell her.
Every friendship has a price tag dangling from it. Every friendship involves a cost, a risk. 1 Peter 4:8 encourages us to take the risk, to pay the price, to love them
anyway, because “love covers a multitude of sins.” In this verse, “cover” literally means to “hide or overlook” the faults of others. We know that the faults are there,
but we choose to love that person anyway…which is exactly the response we want from a friend. We were created to bear each other’s burdens, to need each
other. Don’t spend another day longing for friendship. Take the first step…take a risk. Be a friend!