We pray...That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge
…that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
Let us take that powerful passage from the Apostle Paul about Love and spend the rest of this month considering it, praying about it and letting it work in us for the Glory of God.
Below is a simple interpretation of I Corinthians 13.
It is so profound even the angels of heaven stand in awe of it.
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
DAY 26—Great faith and ability can never take the place of love.
Faith to accomplish great works and skill in explaining great mysteries can never be a substitute for love. Paul made a clear statement regarding this in I Corinthians 13:2. He said:
Being an orator of the highest order, having understanding of the greatest mysteries, possessing faith to perform the greatest of miracles, and yet, being void of love, makes of me an absolute nothing.
The final day, facing the gravest problems and coming up against the fiercest enemy, leaves us with but one choice for a weapon. That choice is love. That love flows from the Throne of God’s Kingdom.
There is no solution that our mind can discover the mystery of love’s power. All we can do is yield to its power and see it demonstrated. Thereby we discover the most perfect weapon of all, love.
What a wonder! that love attracts God to know us in our difficulties. We are known of God! He knows the way we take. Our loving Him brings Him into our battles and immediately we know that He knows us. That is what wins our wars. It settles our peace.
FATHER, there is no greater way to win a battle than by love. I know that self-centered love will not prevail. Usually it works in an opposite way. Please help me as I enter this conflict that I’m facing today. Please help me become settled in the more excellent way that Your Love provides—for any situation, in any battle, with anybody.
Berean Ministries
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Elk Park, NC 28622-0038
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