Open the Door to Love

Love covers a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8). Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Love is one of the greatest forces there is. Love can melt the hardest heart (Read about the Saul to Paul experience on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9). We were created to love.

Two things I want to talk about today. Our extreme need for love and what happens when we do not receive it.

A bell’s not a bell ’til you ring it – A song’s not a song ’til you sing it – Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay – Love isn’t love ’til you give it away!

-Oscar Hammerstein

 I know a lot of you have heard the old saying, love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay, love isn’t love till you give it away. Give it away indeed. The Bible is all about love. God’s great love (John 3:16),  no greater love (John 15:13) and hang all the commandments on love (Matthew 22:40). Why do you think so much has been written about love? I believe love is the key that will open the door to our increased faith in God. The Bible even calls us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and says if we hate our brother whom we have seen, how can we say we love God, that we are liars(1 John 4:20). Remember, liars will have their part in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). So, since it is all about love, let’s look at scripture, but first and foremost pray with me please.

Lord, Please open our eyes to the truth contained in Your word about love. Thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

1 John 3:4-10 NKJV

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. ⁵ And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸ He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

We can’t get any more serious than right here. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. That is huge. I mean wow! We have to love. Period. No if ands or buts about it. Love is what the Lord wants for us. I believe it is the very fabric of our existence.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NKJV

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Bible says  that if I didn’t love I would be like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal! I don’t know if you have ever hear a clanging gong before but it is not pleasant to the ears. We would actually be nothing if we didn’t love others. Why is this so hard for the body of Christ? Have we been so conditioned by the world, or allowed self-protective walls to come up, thereby preventing us from doing the very thing that our Lord said to hang all of the laws on? I don’t know about you, but I choose to love. Love my brothers and sisters, all family, fellow bloggers, enemies, and everyone else. God has put that in my heart to share with every one today. The message is to love one another.

Rana across this while looking for clanging cymbal, Philip Jacobs

There was an actual study done in 1944 that showed the effects of withholding love from infants. This study should answer both our extreme need for love and sadly what happens if we do not receive it. The study consisted of forty babies. They were grouped into two groups of twenty. One group was loved and cared for, the other just cared for without love. Stupid study, if you ask me, because I am all about love. Anyways, believe it or not, twenty babies were cared for but the caregivers changed, fed and cleaned them only. No eye contact or affection was given. Twelve of the twenty who were deprived of love  died. They had to halt the study. The other twenty survived and even thrived. Here is the link to the full article.

https://stpauls.vxcommunity.com/Issue/us-experiment-on-infants-withholding-affection/13213

So very sad, I know and I apologize for bringing it to your attention. Let us, please, see the seriousness, of love, is my cry. As awful as the study was, and may it never happen again, but, let it not go to waste, those precious lives. Let them have a voice and that voice be LOVE. Drop all the barriers that would prevent us from loving fully whatever they may be. Let us not let distance, race, income, job position,  speech or anything else divide us anymore. Our loyalty is to God and to honor Him by adhering to the message in His word, which is, ALL about love.

This might be my new favorite verse.

1 Peter 1:22 NKJV Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart

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During this time of quarantine, I was invited to a Facebook group, which I usually don’t do groups, but this one is about showing love to all humanity right now by decorating their windows with hearts. So far we have seven and the driveway full of hearts. On one we have a heart tree and the other a cross with hearts all around it. There are scripture verses in windows as well, just any way to show love and hope. People are posting their pictures in this group and some are blowing me away with their talent. We can ALL do this. We can ALL show love. Isn’t that what it is all about? Feel free to add me in Facebook, my name is Donna Nielsen and I am from Wisconsin. I’d love to see some of my readers windows all hearted up!

1 John 4:7 NKJV Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Pray with me please,

Dear Lord of all creation,

Praise Your holy name forever! This world is not our hope. Our hope is in You. We hope for that great and glorious day when we see You coming back in the clouds to receive Your church! We long with anticipation, looking at the skies with hopeful and joyous expectancy. Knowing that You are coming back some day for us means so much to us Father. Thank You Lord Jesus! What an amazing day that will be, when our Jesus we shall see! Hallelujah! There will be such joy. We love You and want to please You while on this earth. If there is any way that we have displeased You in the area of love, please forgive us Lord. Fill us with more of Your Holy Spirit, so that we too can say, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.” Help us to lay down any and all grievances against our brothers or sisters and to just love them! That’s all. No fault finding, or anything else. Help us to just love. You have loved us so much and given us such an extreme, holy example of love, that we are humbled by it. We will not resist You or Your Holy  Spirit any longer in the area of love. Today is a new day and we ask You for Your love, that we would love as would be pleasing to You. Giving up our rights and resting on Your love. Then they will know we are Christians by our LOVE. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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We are instructed to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), so if there are any prayer requests feel free to leave them in the comment section. I would be honored to pray with you. If it is more private you can always contact me via email at luckd61@yahoo.com I check that every day. Blessings to you all, till we meet again, tomorrow, if the Lord is willing. Peace.

Let’s worship today with

See the Light by Tobymac

By Our Love by For King and Country

Surrender by Flame ft. V Rose

To know Jesus more personally please read the following
https://thefathersfeet.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/you-never-let-us-go/

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