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For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son that who so ever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. We become part of God’s family by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior. Then we choose daily to lay down our own life down in obedience to Him. It is an interesting word study to just look up all the scriptures that talk about love, and read them one after another. Here are some of them:
We get a deposit of God’s love on the inside of us (Rom 5:5)
The love of God is abounding to us (I Thes 3:12),
It is sincere (Rom 12:9),
It is unselfish (Matt 22:39),
It is impartial (Deut 10:19),
It is fervent (I Peter 1:22),
It is compelling (2 Cor 5:14),
It is divine (John 15:9),
It is self – sacrificing (John 15:13)
and it is sacrificial (Gal 2:20)
All of God’s love is deposited into our spirit!
That is just a short list of the adjectives that describe the love of God. And that is just a short list of the attributes of love that can (and should) be found in us. So even after Valentine’s Day is over, make these adjectives the way you love others. While talking about parts of speech, it really is important to remember that love is A VERB. Love is more than just a feeling, more than just words. Love is an action. If we really love, we serve. God’s love on the inside of us is there just for that, service. Whether we are in a relationship or just being neighborly, God’s love in us compels us to serve others. What is so great about serving others is that it not only helps them, it helps us too! So what kind of love are you showing those around you? Are you loving others sacrificially and sincerely? Then the natural result is service! Let’s love enough to serve others!

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 hope you know today that God does have a wonderful plan for your life, and it is all because He loves you. 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 week when romantic love is celebrated, that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God loves you! His love really is unmeasurable, because His love has 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! Greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. That scripture is from John 15:13 and really is proof of God’s great love for us. Jesus laid His life down as a seed so that we could be a part of the harvest. He was crucified and buried, laying His life down, so that we could know Him. Not as a distant acquaintance, but as a close intimate friend. He calls us His friends, not servants or subjects, but the very friends of God. The love God has for us is the greatest love that the world has ever known.

This is the time of year we celebrate romantic love. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I am amazed by how many scriptures there are that talk about the subject of love. In the concordance in the back of my Bible, it has pages and pages of scriptures about love. That would seem fitting, since God not only loves us immeasurably, but He IS Love (I John 4:16)! What an amazing concept. This week let’s find out what the Bible says about love. Here is your dailyeword.

The love chapter in I Corinthians 13 is often read at weddings and we smile and say how sweet it is. We think that those who have fresh romantic love, they’ll do all those things, but us old married folks sometimes get a little cynical. We shouldn’t!!!! (Lynn and I have been married since April of 1982. I guess we are now old married folks!) Those same descriptions of love should be how we treat our mates on a daily basis. Here’s a reminder from I Cor 13:4-8 of the kind of ways we show love to them…..
by operating in patience,
by being kind,
by not being proud, boastful or envious
By not being rude,
By not being self seeking (or selfish),
by not being easily angered,
and not keeping a list of wrongs.
by not being happy when evil happens to others,
but rejoicing when truth prevails.
We protect, trust, hope and persevere for those we love. When we act that way, love will never fail. Love is not just something that we say, it really is something that we do. There is a great song with that same title….Something That We Do…. By Clint Black and Skip Ewing. Here are some of the lyrics.
Love isn’t something that we find…
it’s something that we do.
It’s holding tight, and letting go,
it’s flying high and laying low,
let your strongest feelings show and your weakness too,
it’s a little and a lot to ask, an endless and a welcome task,
love isn’t something that we have, it’s something that we do.
There’s so much to look back on now, still it feels brand new,
we’re on a road that has no end, and each day we begin again,
loves not just something that we’re in, it’s something that we do.
We give ourselves, we give our all,
love isn’t someplace that we fall, it’s something that we do.
What a great truth, if you love God, you will do something – (I John 3:18).Well, if love is in the air for you today, why don’t you do something about it! And then try to do something about it, every day of the year. Love lavishly!

Do you know that your thought life can affect your heart? I hope you have been reminded how important it is to think thoughts that line up with God’s Word. We have to capture thoughts immediately that are against what God’s plan is for our lives. The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” That’s in Proverbs 23:7, and it shows that our thought life can affect your heart. What we think about, often becomes who we are. What we think about is what we begin to talk about, and what we talk about is what we begin to do. The progression goes from thought, to words, to action. What is very cool about the power that God has given us, is that we can use that positively for our good. The enemy always perverts what God created. The enemy tries to destroy our lives, often by our own words, that are a result of negative thoughts that become planted in our mind. The power of life and death is in our tongue. Power for life then in is taking our thoughts and aligning them with God’s thoughts. That’s the renewal process, or making good our mind, which leads to speaking God’s thoughts, and then seeing them manifest in our life. I really want you to learn to control your thought life, because it is easy just to go down the negative path. Don’t let random, ungodly or negative thoughts settle in your mind. Determine to capture them immediately. Let your thoughts become positive words that bless your life and those around you. Remember, our tongue has the power of life and death. As the Bible says, “He who keeps his tongue, keeps his life”. To keep your tongue, you need to keep your thoughts. So my encouraging word for you is to center your mind on things above. Instead of being carnally or worldly minded, which leads to death, be spiritually minded with your mind centered and focused on Christ, and live a life of peace and rest.

One of my favorite things to do is to encourage people with specific scriptures that pertain to their situation. As a teenager, when I was first exposed to the full gospel message, I heard a lady from the pulpit give someone a specific scripture in a church service. It was like a word of knowledge just for a certain person or a group of people in the congregation. I can remember thinking I wanted to be able to do that. Well, guess what? If we hide God’s Word in our heart, God will bring His Word to our remembrance when we need the. You can encourage someone with the very words of God. It doesn’t even have to be super-spiritual! Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak, so what you put in, is what will come out. Let me give you an example. My second daughter was once studying for a major scholastic exam. She called me discouraged that she might not do well, and right away, God’s Word started rising up in my heart. I started reminding her about what God’s Word says about her.
It says, that she has the mind of Christ.
It says, that she can do all things through Christ who strengthens her.
It says, that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
It says, that He will bring back to her remembrance all the things that she has learned.
It says, that she hasn’t been given a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind.
It says, that the diligent will prosper.
It says, that she is more than a conqueror, and that God will give her the desires of her heart.
So in a few simple moments, she went from being a little fearful, to being encouraged. What we think about really matters. If we continue to focus on the negative, we will get what we expect. The Bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Or as a woman thinks in her heart, so is she. So what do you choose to think about? Let’s think God’s thoughts about our life, and encourage someone else with what God thinks about them.

II Cor 10:3-5 are 3 scriptures that are so powerful when understanding what we have to do with our thought life. There is a progression that takes place in this scripture. See if you can notice what it is. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong holds. Casting down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. The progression is this, thoughts turn into imaginations, and imaginations can become strongholds. The key to having a healthy thought life is to deal with issues when they are in the thought stage. Since we can’t keep thoughts from coming, the moment they enter our mind is the moment we have to deal with them. If we entertain them for a while, they can move from a random thought into something we imagine ourselves doing. It goes from black and white to a full color wide screen! Sin can actually be conceived when at that point. Verse three is such a big key in understanding how we deal with what is going on in our mind. It is where the biggest battle takes place for most Christians, and as verse 3 of II Corinthians 10 says, even though we are flesh, we don’t fight with weapons of flesh….our weapons are mighty in God. He has given us keys and tools to overcome, and we must choose to operate in them to live in the victory that Jesus purchased for us. We begin by taking every thought captive. That means we can’t be lackadaisical about what we think about. We have to have a purpose driven thought life. Just like we wouldn’t allow a mouse to run through our house, we would set up a trap and get that varmint out of there. We need to do the same with our mind. When even a small negative thought comes through, set up a trap, get it out of there. And do it right away. Capture that thought, so it won’t move on to the next stage of imagination or become a stronghold.

Renew your mind is what Romans 12:2 tells us to do. One of the synonyms for renew is to “make good”. I like the thought of “making good” your mind. There are lots of ways that thoughts come to our mind. There can be “out of the blue” thoughts, “something triggers your mind” thoughts, even smells and sights can bring up thoughts in your mind. Recognizing where thoughts come from is one of the most pivotal ingredients to making our mind good. Obviously there are two forces in the world, one good from God and one that is evil from the enemy. So there are God thoughts, and there are thoughts inspired by the enemy. So, when a thought from the enemy settles in your mind, you can make it good, by removing it, and renewing your mind to what God’s Word says. We take the wrong thought out and replace it with the right thought, in other words, take out the old thought and replace it with a new thought. We take out the bad thought, and “make it good”. One of the key words in Romans 12: 2 is the word transformed. In Greek it is metamorpho, which is the root word for metamorphosis. We think of caterpillars to butterflies. One thing becomes something totally different. What was once on a lower level, now takes wings and flies! The same thing can happen with our thoughts. We can choose to think on a higher plane. We take a lower thought, and replace it with a higher thought! Romans 8:6 says that to be carnally minded (or earthly minded) is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. To think on those things which keep our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus, we “make good” or renew our mind to His Word.

I’m sure you are familiar with the scripture in Joshua 1:8 that says for us to meditate on the Word day and night, observe to do what is written, and then we will make our way prosperous, and the we will have good success. Just in case you think that meditation is some recent invention, it was God’s idea from very long ago. Our thought life or what we meditate on appears to be really important to our future success, from this one scripture alone. What we choose to think on has great power in our lives, because thoughts become actions, and our actions demonstrate what we believe. When we become a doer of what we believe, change and growth results. So what do you believe? Are you taking time to meditate, or think on God’s Word? There is great power in the written (logos) and the spoken (rhema) Word of God. Meditation on God’s Word does the opposite of what worry does. Worry believes the worst, pictures the worst, expects the worst, and often gets the worst. Meditation believes the best (The Word), pictures the best, expects the best, and gets the best! So if you have a tendency to be a worrier, start doing this. Whenever thoughts of worry come to your mind, capture them, and replace them by meditating on God’s Word.

Instead of thoughts of going under, remember God is Jehovah Jireh, your provider, and meditate on scriptures like “my God will supply all my needs by His riches in glory”.

Instead of thoughts of catching some sickness, remember God is Jehovah Rapha, your healer and that by his stripes you were healed.

Instead of whatever you can worry about, think of what God says about the subject. His Word is what is The Truth.

Think about and believe the truth. Meditate on and act on The Truth. Positive changes and good success will surely take place in you.

Yesterday we ended with this thought: take control of your thought life by capturing the wrong thought and replacing it with a God thought. Let me show you how it works. I’m make it really general so you can put whatever you might be struggling with in the blank to make it personal.

When you start thinking this negative thoughts:
I will never overcome my habit of ______________
Every time I’ve tried before and I have failed
It’s impossible, I don’t have enough will power
I will never break through this barrier to success
My life will always be this way, I’ll always be defeated

Turn those thoughts around immediately, and begin filling your mind with these “God” thoughts:
I am well able to overcome the habit of __________
This time, I have the strength of God on my side
Nothing is impossible with God, He gives me strength
Jesus broke down every wall, so I will break through this wall.
My life will be forever changed for the better, I’m more than a conqueror
As you begin to say what God says about you, strength and power will be released into your life, because of the power there is in lining your thoughts up with God’s thoughts. It will affect how you think first, then how you speak, and ultimately how you live! That’s encouraging!

Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. This week I am encouraging you in the area of renewing our mind. Our minds can be renewed day by day by making our thoughts obedient to Christ. Our body needs to be brought into obedience to do God’s will by daily making choices to do what is right. Both our soul and our body are controlled by thoughts, which turn to actions. So this week, we’re talking about getting our thoughts to line up with God’s thoughts. Right thoughts lead to right words, and right words change your actions, which can change your life. Here’s your dailyeword!

Good mental fitness involves making our thoughts line up with the Word of God, and that can seem like a daunting challenge. Renewing our mind takes daily practice. Each day we choose what we put into our bodies for food, sometimes it is good and sometimes it is way bad! What happens over the long haul in our body is that what goes in does affect not only our appearance, but our health. Because we don’t see our thought life, it seems like it is easier to let things slide. We can be thinking thoughts that are very contrary to what God thinks about us, and can do it day upon day, week upon week, year upon year without realizing that damage is taking place. But damage is happening. So stop the damage today and make a change.

Thoughts lead to imaginations and imaginations lead to strongholds as it talks about in II Corinthians 10:4-6. Thoughts are much easier to deal with than strongholds. So we have to learn to nip wrong thoughts in the bud. Don’t let them hang around even for a minute. As soon as they find a way into your thoughts, determine if they are not of God, that you will capture them immediately. Take control of your thought life by capturing the wrong thoughts and replacing them with a thought that lines up with God’s Word.