Author: princessleah

Love is a huge topic! It is hard to tackle in our short daily time together, even when we talk about it all month long. Love is more than the ooey, gooey, warm and cozy, syrupy sweet , whipped cream topped concoction that we read about in some magazine. God’s love is sincere and deep, and it comes from the heart. One of the most wonderful things about love is that it gives us the power to say we’re sorry when we are wrong, and gives us the ability to forgive those who have wronged us. Walking in forgiveness and saying we’re sorry isn’t easy when we are operating in the flesh. (Just look at how often celebrities walk out on each other in a short matter of time.) But if we follow the way of love, and walk in the Spirit, we won’t fulfill our fleshly desires, and we will do what is right. We can make lasting, sincere, deep commitments that will stand the test of time. We can say we are sorry, and we can learn to forgive. And we can do that, because we have known the love and forgiveness of Christ. Just as nothing can separate us from the love of God, don’t let circumstances or relationship difficulties keep you from loving others. Nothing separates us from God’s love. It says in Romans 8:38 & 39

I am persuaded that neither death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or powers, or things present or things to come, nor height, nor depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is nothing more comforting and reassuring than knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are fully covered by the love of God. Let love cover your relationships, and resolve to have God’s kind of love operating in your life. Don’t let separation be a part of your vocabulary! Just think about it, nothing can separate us from God’s love.

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Thank you for reading ( or listening to) an Encouraging Word for your day. Here is a hard question. Is there enough evidence to convict you? Most of the time, those wouldn’t be very good words to hear. In this instance, I’m wondering if there is enough proof in your life to prove you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Can the world see the love of God in you? I hope you haven’t ever been in a real trial where you had to find evidence to prove your innocence. It sounds like God is looking for the opposite kind of evidence in John 13:31-35.

31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. 33 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

He wants to see something in you, worthy of “convicting” you of being a Christian. The evidence He is looking for is His very own love demonstrated through you. All this month we are talking about love basics, and love is a huge issue to God. Not only is He the essence of Love, He asks us to walk in love, abound in love, be fervent in love, manifest self-sacrificing love, and love Him and our neighbor like we love ourselves. It sounds like a big task, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Just let the love that He’s shed abroad in your heart, shine through you, and love one another.

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Love is the complete fulfillment of the Law of God. Romans 13:8 tells us that we will fulfill the law by loving our fellow man. As we clothe ourselves in Christ, we are fulfilling the law of love, and letting love be perfected in us. Are you letting love have it’s perfect work? Today, you can! Today you can demonstrate the love of God to your family, to your friends, to everyone you meet. You can reflect God’s life-giving, loving nature through your words and actions. You’ve heard it said that faith without works is dead. The same can be said for love, love without corresponding action is empty. We can, through our words and deeds, obey the command of Christ to walk in love. Spread some love today!
Listen closely to these words from Romans 13:8-11

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,”and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Here is a cry to remember that we must stay awake. Don’t be a sleeping Christian. Don’t get sleepy in your actions. Let’s stay awake to love. It is the way to live. Even when we feel like it doesn’t have an affect, love is the answer. Let’s only owe each other the wonderful, amazing love of God., and pour it on thick!

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Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an Encouraging Word for your day. This month begins my eighth year doing dailyeword as a radio program. Who would have thought! We continue airing daily on KAGF 105.5 where you hear Worship and the Word, as they proclaim the goodness of God. In addition to being on the radio, you can still read the blog or listen to the dailyeword podcast on our Website, agf.org. This month we are concentrating on love basics. How can we begin to cover the enormous topic of God’s love? Aren’t you thankful that nothing ever can separate us from the love of God? Here is your dailyeword!

Because the apostle John was known as the beloved, it is no coincidence that the Gospel of John and the Epistles of I, II, and III John are filled to the brim with the loving words of Jesus threaded throughout each book making a beautiful tapestry that totally exemplifies the God’s love for us. As one of God’s beloved, you can know that He will never let you go! He will always love you because that is the essence of who He is! He first gave of His love, and we get to respond in love back to him.

I John 4 is a beautiful chapter expressing God’s love and giving the reason that God loves us…. that we might live (an abundant life) through Him (vs 9). When we live through Him, we can love like He loves, and that is when His love is perfected in us (vs 12). His Spirit in us is evidence of His perfect love dwelling in us! Our love is made perfect when we walk in boldness demonstrating God’s love, by being and living like Him in this world (vs17). I hope today you take time to read all of I John 4.

I John 4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can[c] he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

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Love is seeing others as valuable and precious. How often do we hear those words, you are valuable and precious to me? I hope you know that God values you and thinks you are wonderful! I want to be one person who lets you know today that God does have a wonderful plan for your life, and it is all because He loves you. God is a lover. He loves because it is who He is. It is His nature to love. The new commandment that God gave for us to follow is that we love Him with all of our heart, and that we love our neighbors too – Matt 22:38-39. The Bible states that all of the 10 commandments are wrapped up in those two. I’ve said it before like this, the New Two trump the Big Ten! It is important that we know we are loved, because then we can love others. As believers, our life should revolve around Christ. A Christian is a Christ like one, and Christ should be the center of our existence, our most important Counselor, and the One we depend on in all circumstances. I hope during this month when we are talking about love basics, that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God loves you! His love really is immeasurable, because there is no end. He has placed His love in you, so that you can not only know his love, but you can love Him back, and show your love to others everyday, in every way!

Here’s a prayer for today: Father, thank you for the love you have for your children, and the love you have for your church. I know I am loved by you and I thank you for the church body you have placed me in. Help me to find my place, and serve wholeheartedly, with joy. Thank you for the promise that where I am planted is where I will grow and flourish. In Jesus Name, AMEN.

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In Roman 12:9-18, the Bible says this:

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
God loves His body, the church. He is devoted to His body. The same devotion he has, is what we can operate in, because we have His love in us. We can be devoted enough to serve each other. With zeal, enthusiasm, and joy, we should serve others. God loves it when all of the body operates the way he laid out for us in His Word. . He loves to see every joint supply and every one do their part. Church body life is about serving others. It all starts because we have received love from God, and when He placed His love in our hearts, we want to share it. So because we love, we serve. When we serve, we win for God. Jesus was all about serving others, and that should be our heart too. When we are doing His will on the earth, loving and serving others, the people around us will know we are believers. Our actions will prove it! We are to be givers, lovers, blessers, and at peace with as many as possible. Sounds like a loving way to live. Let’s get back to these love basics.

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In I John 3:14-19, it says this:

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

These verses talk so specifically about how we are to love our brothers and sisters, both natural and spiritual. Laying down our life for them might seem extreme, but that is what love does. Love gives. God is the greatest example of this. God loved, and because of love, He gave. And He keeps on giving. We are the recipients of His gracious love, every day. Because we are receivers, we are required to be givers. You might not like that word require, but we really are. If we see someone with a need, what does a lover do? They give! So to boil it down into simple terms, it means to put our money where our mouth is. If we say we love, there should be some evidence. Is there enough evidence in your life to prove that you are a child of God, who has been filled up with love from on high? Is there evidence in your home? Is there evidence in your speech? Is there evidence behind the steering wheel. That’s hitting below the belt now isn’t it!!! Let’s be the one who loves in deed and in truth.

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This week we are continuing to talk about what God loves, and He loves His church. He loves the ones who have answered the call to minister to the sheep of His pasture. Eph 4:11-12 reads like this:

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

Jesus gave the ministry gift of Pastor so that we could have an earthy shepherd to teach us God’s Word. God calls people into the ministry so that they can minister to us. If we didn’t need a pastor, Jesus wouldn’t have given pastors to the church! I was actually in a church service at the age of 13, when I knew God solidified in me what I felt was may calling into the full time ministry as a 9 year old. I don’t remember anything about the service, but right in the middle of the preaching, I had a knowing on the inside, that God had set aside my life for service in the ministry. I was never the same from that day on. God used my pastor at that time in my life, as he was teaching the Word to the congregation, to direct the Word, by the Holy Spirit specifically to me, to solidify the call that God had on my life. I was at the right place at the right time, getting the right results. I was in church! As we walk out our Christian life, it is an adventure. The greatest one ever! It is a journey, a pilgrimage, a pathway of following the Lord, directed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that we will go from strength to strength as we stay on the path, and keep going and growing in the love of God. In the House of the Lord, we experience the love of God. Step by step as God’s love is manifested in us more and more as we connect with God’s people and His presence. We learn to love the Word in the house of the Lord. We learn to love times of prayer as we pray for others and have other believers pray for us in God’s house. All of this happens in church. Where we long to be, because we long for God’s presence and love to be manifested in us. If you don’t have a church home, or you don’t attend regularly, find a way to get connected, and increase your love for the time you get to spend in God’s house.

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Ps 84:1-4 is a delightful reminder of how much we should cherish and love the House of God.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
 Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
 for the courts of the Lord;
 my heart and my flesh cry out
 for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
 and the swallow a nest for herself,
 where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
 Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
 they are ever praising you.

David said that his soul longed to be in God’s presence. It sounds like David loved to be in God’s House. Just the wording he used in todays Bible reading makes you think that his heart’s desire was to be where ever God was. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. David loved God and God loved David. God’s passion became David’s passion. God’s heart is for His family. The family of God meets, learns and grows together in church. Jesus gave the 5 fold ministry gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher so that we could grow, and particularly to prepare the people of God for the work of the ministry, and to build the body of Christ. So God places each person in a church body so that they can enter the presence of God, and serve in a church body. He is the good Shepherd that is looking after and taking care of His sheep. Jesus is the chief pastor! Jesus is the one who decides who is called to be a pastor. The interesting thing is that everyone needs a pastor. Even if you are a pastor, you still need a pastor. The word pastor means shepherd, and sheep (the people of God) need a shepherd. Jesus of course is the chief shepherd, but we still need to be “pastured”, in the pasture of the church. In the church is where you get good nourishment to grow in God. It is where we rub shoulder with other believers, and learn how to walk in love, use our faith, and become more like Jesus. It is where we long to be as believers. So my encouragement to you is…..long to be in God’s presence, He longs for you. In His presence you will find, everything you need, life, hope, joy, and buckets full of love!

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I love what the writer of Ps 84 says in verses 8-12 about loving to spend time in the presence of God, specifically in His house. When thinking of what God loves, and love basics in general, we know he loves His church, the body of Christ. I love it that David did too! Hear what he said in Ps 84: 8-12

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
 listen to me, God of Jacob. 9 Look on our shield, O God;
 look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
 than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
 than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
 the Lord bestows favor and honor;
 no good thing does he withhold
 from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
 blessed is the one who trusts in you.

In these verses, David says that he would rather spend one day in God’s house than 1000 days anywhere else. He would rather be a doorkeeper in God’s house than to dwell at ease in the tents of wickedness. I love that he would rather serve like an usher or a greeter in church (isn’t that what a doorkeeper is?) than be seen, served or live in a wicked place. He has such great love for the house of God. He also connected loving with serving. Serving is part of church. We get that example from Christ. Love serves! Jesus didn’t come to be served but to serve. We shouldn’t come to church to be served, but to serve. We should be asking, how can we help? How can we participate to make things flow smoother? How can we be a blessing to our pastors, or the staff, or the different ministries that are available? How can we keep the building looking nice? How can we participate in services or events to make the ministry more effective? There are so many ways to serve in the body. It takes the up front things, and many more things behind the scenes. Think of prayer and how important it is in the church setting. We want the atmosphere to be ripe for God to do what needs to be done…that happens behind the scenes, because God’s people have a love for His house. Think of all the amazing Children’s ministry workers, or youth workers who make those ministries run. Not only do they make things relevant, they find creative ways to get the Word of God into our kids. That all happens behind the scenes, by people who love God’s house. I hope your prayer aligns with Davids. Better is one day in Your house, than thousands elsewhere.

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