Pathways Press.com

Written by Shelly Esser, a contemporary writer and editor.

Recently, I’ve been struggling with loving people ─ people who have become enemies, or at least feel like enemies. I’ve been constantly asking God to show me how to love them, especially as they are hurting someone I love. There has been unlimited injustice, unfairness, and an absolute disregard for how hurtful actions are wounding. It’s so easy to love those who love us back, who are kind or nice to us, but what about those who harm us, who make our lives difficult, who show no love or compassion to us. As I’ve wrestled with that question, I realize that at my worst, in my sin, that is me too! And yet, when I was lost in my sin, Christ demonstrated the greatest love possible and died for me. The impact of that reality as we move into this holy time of year focusing on Christ’s death and resurrection is sobering. I was an enemy of God and yet He does something so amazing that it’s hard to fully grasp. Think about what God’s love did while we didn’t give Him a second thought, while our hearts were as far away from Him as they could be, while we were living for ourselves in sin, while we were still sinners…While we were in our separated state, He demonstrates His love for us on a cross. In other words, He shows us just how great His love is…God shows. Not in a quiet, out-of-sight kind of way, but in an unmistakable way that no one has or ever will show like this again. And He shows it to sinners─while we were still sinners. Do you realize how great God’s love is for you?

God shows [demonstrates] his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8]

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Written by Bill Bright (1921-2003), co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. This is an excerpt from his book “Transferable Concept: How You Can Love By Faith.”

The parable of the prodigal son, as recorded in Luke 15, illustrates God’s unconditional love for His children. A man’s younger son asked his father for his share of the estate, packed his belongings, and took a trip to a distant land where he wasted all of his money on parties and prostitutes. About the time that his money was gone, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He finally came to his senses and realized that his father’s hired men at least had food to eat. He decided, “I will go to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.” While he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming and was filled with loving pity. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. I think that the reason he saw his son coming while he was still a long distance away was that he was praying for his son’s return and spent much time each day watching that lonely road on which his son would return. Even as the son was making his confession, the father interrupted to instruct the servants to kill the fatted calf and prepare for a celebration — his lost son had repented; he had changed his mind and had returned to become part of the family again. God demonstrated His love for us before we were Christians, but this story makes it obvious that God continues to love his child who has strayed far from Him. He eagerly awaits his return to the Christian family and fellowship. Even when you are disobedient, he continues to love you, waiting for you to respond to His love and forgiveness.

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. [ Luke 15:24]

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Written by Cortney Whiting, a contemporary lay leader and writer.

Father God, in the middle of the chaos we call life, may we be still enough to recognize the love you have for your creation. May we trust in Your unfailing and unconditional love.  As You have loved us, may we love one another. Forgive us for the times when we have forgotten the cost of Your love, the life of Your Son, Jesus. I pray that we will live confidently today, knowing that we are Your children who You have chosen with a plan and purpose in mind.  Help us live for You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. [Ephesians 1:4-5]

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Written by Dawn Kaiser, a contemporary writer, trainer, and coach.

A few years back I was sitting in a coffee shop with a friend  and we were talking about our ability to receive love. I confessed to her that for many years it was hard for me to receive love from others and especially from God. I mean how could God love me when I kept making mistakes or breaking my promises to really change for the better this time? But that’s the great thing, God’s love is not conditional, rather it’s unconditional. It’s not based on our successes or our failures or if I have earned it, rather His love is always there for us, we just have to receive it. Do you ever find it hard to let God love you? … The nature of God’s love is generative and relational. God’s love towards us creates new love for us to give back. We have the opportunity to multiply love when we receive it, but when we refuse to receive love, we diminish its possibilities… So how do we receive God’s love? There is an exercise I practice and recommend to others. The truth of God’s love for you is woven throughout His Word and so I encourage you to go on a love scavenger hunt and find the verses of God’s love that speak directly to you. Once you find 5-10 of these verses, read through each statement as you picture God speaking these words over you. In each statement, place your name in the verse. Repeat this exercise daily for several weeks and soon you will find that these seeds of love begin to take root in your heart.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” [Isaiah 54:10]

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Written by John Warden, a contemporary pastor and writer.

How should my life (words, actions and decisions) reflect my relationship and pursuit of Christ? If a person is walking with God on the inside, then their life (words, decisions, and actions done out of obedience to God) should reflect a distinct character on the outside. The perfect expression of God’s love for others is found in the person of Jesus.  Jesus is our benchmark! Jesus does not require anything from us that He did not already live out in His own person and life.  The command to love one another and to love our neighbor as ourselves were given and modeled by Jesus and commanded of His followers… We learn from the biographies of Jesus (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that all people were accepted and loved, especially those at the bottom of the social pyramid—poor people, women, outcasts, lepers, children, prostitutes, and tax collectors.  Jesus is the perfect model of loving your neighbor as yourself. Why should Christians have an active heart for serving the poor?  Because of Jesus, the perfect standard by which we live  The overflow of Jesus’s love for the Father was a life in constant service to others.  Our overflow and love for the Father (our seeking to conform to the character of Christ) should also result in a life of service and love to others… A life living in Christ  is a life that loves and serves others.  A service to the poor that listens, loves, encourages, respects and helps those in your midst—especially those from the bottom of the social class.  This is the heart of Jesus and should be our heart as well as we seek to live in fellowship with Him.

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. [1 John 2:6]

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Written by St. Francis of Assisi (c1181-1226). an Italian friar, deacon and preacher. He founded the men’s Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Claire, the Third Order of Saint Francis, and the Custody of the Holy Land.

Dear God, please reveal to us
your sublime beauty
that is everywhere, everywhere, everywhere
so that we will never again
feel frightened.
My divine love, my love,
Please let us touch
your face.

Amen.

For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! [Zechariah 9:17]

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Written by Margot Wallace, from the Village Church

During Lent I try harder to make myself more godlike in my habits, thoughts, and, aspirations. Yet I often wonder at the disparity between knowing what it takes to be a Christian and actualizing that in fact. I know the perfection which Jesus represents in thought, word, and deed. How is it then, even as a Christian, that I fall short so often? It seems that agape love, the only love free of motives, does not come naturally at all. There is a very old Latin phrase recently discussed in Jack’s Kingdom Academy on Sunday: “homo incurvatus in se” translated from Latin: “Man/woman curved in on her/himself.” Essentially this means that we are born curved in on ourselves. While I was made from love, by love, for love, I was not spiritually aware of these origins at birth. Time, experience, education, and discipline are required to become open to God’s love which un-curves my spirit. Most importantly, I am God’s person, representative, messenger on Earth. In reflecting upon this concept, I turned to nature and the image of the budding California Poppy came to mind. Here we can witness what we know, with the right conditions, will become a magnificent blossom. While curved in on itself the bud rises from the ground with great potential to create a plethora of cascading color to decorate the hillside. This analogy from nature is all around us in different forms on our beautiful Earth!

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. [Romans 7:15]

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Written by Mark Brown, a contemporary monk and retreat leader.

So how can we come to know the love of God in our lives and in the lives of those around us? I start with the understanding that God is Himself love. God is love. And in a sense all love is God’s love and all love has its source, its ultimate source, in the heart of God. Like that very old hymn reminds us, “Wherever love is, God himself is there.” So we see God’s love all around us in the lives of those that we know, in their compassion, in their generosity, in their giving, in their acts of love and kindness, the way that they care for other people. It is all God’s love even though it is coming through those individuals. Even more immediately, we can come to know God’s love within ourselves because we too, like the people we admire and appreciate, we, too, are instruments of God’s love. We are Christ’s hands in the world, as it were. So God’s love is something that’s alive and present and active in and through us and so recognizing that in our giving, in our generosity, in our compassion, in our loving kindness and care for others, that that’s God living and active and working through us and through our lives.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. [1 John 4:7]

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Written by Doreen May, from the Village Church.

Just before dawn, in the dark of the night

The soul awakens in search of the light

Enduring heart break, struggles and strains

Tears overflow for the question remains

Why so much anguish and strife

As we travel the road on our way in this life?

Is God trying to tell us it’s time to let go?

Be content whatever the circumstances, go with the flow

What exactly is it God wants us to know?

Could it be that the journey right here on this earth

The one we have traveled from the day of our birth

Is His way to prepare us for our final destination?

As He shapes and refines us to His perfect creation

Will we stop long enough to give Him the chance?

Will we listen at last when He asks us to dance?

Is it true as it's stated that we reap what we sew?

Why do we test every limit and venture so low?

What exactly is it God wants us to know?

We have faith …or faith we have not…

We demand answers to all questions sought

Why is it so hard to accept and believe?

Believe in the promises God wants us to receive

For He sent us His Son, that we might have salvation

One and for all to each and every nation

Acknowledge Him now, He'll slay every foe

Yield to that yearning, let your faith build and grow

What exactly is it God wants us to know?

Rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus Christ is Savior and King

Sing Praise to His Glory and hear Heaven's bells ring!

Claim victory over evil, claim Grace as your gift

Let anguish be banished, may all dark clouds lift

Acknowledge Him now, let faith be your goal

Peace, Love and Blessings, will comfort your soul

What is it God wants us to know…

He wants us to…

“Be Still and Know that… “I …AM GOD”

Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  [Psalm 46:10]

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Written by Victoria Riollano, a contemporary ministry leader and author.

Kindness is one way we can show genuine love. Kindness can be defined as an intentional action to be friendly or caring. Whether through a random act of kindness to a stranger, writing a thoughtful letter to a friend, making a meal for a new mother, or saying “thank you” we can choose kindness in an instant. Those who are unkind, hateful, or lack compassion for others may have a difficult time spreading the gospel. If we claim to be Christians but are inconsiderate, disgruntled, and selfish, we can expect that few nonbelievers will be interested in the God we serve! Kindness opens the door to us being able to share the Gospel with others.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. [Colossians 3:12]

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