A Fish Called Grace

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

First Fruits: LOVE

So I have been reading and studying about love this week in preparation for this series of messages. The first fruit is love, and that makes sense. It is the gateway to the other fruits. (You really can’t have peace, joy longsuffering, etc. with out love.) What I am finding is that the Bible sees love differently than the way we see love. We tend to see love as a feeling. God sees love as a commitment. We see love as an emotion. God sees love as a responsibility. We see love as a matter of the heart, and God sees love as a matter of the will.

I can’t help but think about (and show my age) The Partridge Family crooning “I Think I Love You.” If you “think” you love me, you don’t love me very much! However, our Western Culture has taught us that love is an emotion, a feeling. And a fifty percent divorce rate to go along with that. I don’t advocate arranged marriages, but communities that have them have a much lower divorce rate that we do. I heard about a woman from India who defended arranged marriages by saying, “We don’t get to choose our parents or our siblings, but we grow to love them. The same is true with our husbands--we grow to love them.” As I said, love is a commitment, not an emotion.

It is a commitment God makes to us and asks us to make to others. It is why Jesus said that the Greatest commandment was to “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.” Matthew 22:37 (The Message) Then love others as we love ourselves. Jesus says there is a hierarchy of Love. God first. Others second. Ourselves last. What would happen if we all lived that example. I should think divorce rates would plummet. Infidelity would disappear. As would child abuse, rape, jealousy, envy, disrespect, and strife. Wars? Murders?

Overall, though we must get it straight and love ourselves and others and God the way God loves us. With a commitment and a dedication. How do we start? By loving ourselves enough to trust in God and His love for us. So start by loving yourself enough to ask God for His love to dominate your existence. Quit sitting on the premises and start standing on the promises! And remember, God loves you and wants the best for you.

Still feeling a little out-of-favor these days? A little unworthy? Then remember this---
God does not love you because you are valuable. You are valuable because God loves you.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Fruits Of The Spirit

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I’ve been planning a series of messages coming up that will focus on the Fruits of the Spirit; you know love, joy, peace, Longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness, and self -control. We are often (Believers) represented as trees in the Scriptures. For instance, in Psalm 1 we are like a tree planted by the waters.

There is such an interest in the Gifts of the Spirit these days. We all have at least one gift, no doubt about it. And in all honesty, most have more than one. But no one has them all. However, we are all called to have all of the fruits. It makes more sense to me to focus on the fruits, then, instead of the gifts.

It’s like a story I heard about a boy that used to climb down a tree near his bedroom window in order to escape punishment. One night he over heard his father tell his mother that he was going to cut down the tree, because it had stopped producing fruit. The panicked boy spent all night with a bushel of apples and a tube of superglue, and the next morning the tree was full of apples. He then listen for his father to come in with the morning paper and ran downstairs to the breakfast table to see if his plan had worked. Sure enough, the father said, “I can’t believe it, that old tree is full of apples.” Then, looking right at his son, he exclaimed, “It’s a miracle!” Getting nervous, the boy said, “Why do you say that dad?” His father smiled and answered, “Because it’s a pear tree.”

The one thing about a tree...it is known by its fruit. A peach tree doesn’t grow cherries and a pear tree doesn’t grow apples. Fruit reflects the character of the Tree that produces it. Umm...and a Believer’s character is reflected by the fruit he produces. Makes some sense, uh? Are we producing love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self -control?

So focus on these nine “fruits.” Are they present in your life? Do you bear them all? Do you love, have joy, and are you at peace? Are you longsuffering? Are you kind, good, and faithful? Do you exhibit gentleness, and self -control? Let the Holy Spirit fertilize your life and till the fallow ground of your heart so you will bear much of these fruits.

Food for thought.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

D-Min

Boo-Yah!

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
Program GPA: 4.00

Course No. Course Title Grade DMPC 927 BIBLICAL COUNSELING AND THE LAW A DMBC 811 ADVANCED BIBLICAL EXPOSITION A DMPC 827 ADVANCED BIBLICAL COUNSELING A DMPC 929 THE SKILLED COUNSELOR A TH 535 APOLOGETICS A CO 620 BIBLICAL COUNSELING IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY A EV 710 PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH GROWTH A BE 523 CHRISTIAN RHETORIC A TH 561 VALUES AND ETHICS A