​11 December 2020
God Most Certainly Does Not
1 John 4:15-16 NLT
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

Rob was teaching on Wednesday night about how God’s love isn’t like any love we are used to experiencing. Human relationships are typically based on a currency of affection; do well & feel loved, mess up and get shunned. It’s natural for us to take these traits of love and apply God’s love, but we shouldn’t because his love isn’t comparable to currency of affection at all.

God simply gives us his love, and we live in it (v.16) He doesn’t love us more when we’re having a “good” day. We love ourselves more when we’re having a good day. We are disappointed by ourselves more when we have a “bad” day. But God is loving us wholly and completely on both kinds of days. Attributing our own approval of ourselves is meaningless and unnecessary, because the Believer simply is invited to live in God’s love all the time.

I confidently believe that God loves me equally on my good days and bad days. Romans 5:8 reminds us that while we were still sinners he gave us what we did not earn or deserve. As a Believer it is contradictory to concoct the notion that when I fail & mess up he loves me less. Maybe a spouse, parent, teacher or myself would, but God most certainly does not.

Dear God,
Thank you for loving me all the time regardless if I think I have my act together today or not. You are always teaching, instructing, blessing and providing and therefore always loving me all day long. Thank you. Help me be more like you and not use love as currency but genuinely love people for who they are and because you love them. I love YOU and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

​9 December 2020
It Always Has
1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud...

We were visiting family in another state recently and their slogans on all the billboards regarding the pandemic are not like the ones we have here where I live. First of all, the only slogans that need to be on billboards in any state right now should simply read: “Stay home when if you’re feeling sick” and “Wash your hands.” That’s it. 

But anyway, some genius in marketing somewhere came up with adding the phrase “Be kind” with a picture of a heart following the wear a mask picture and social distance arrows we are all accustomed to seeing now. Be kind? Really? We’ll never see that in CA; they are flat out rude here is why. But southern hospitality states are adding the words be kind to all their posters about the virus.

So, what they’re saying is that covering my face and staying away from people is now a sign of kindness. Wow.

It doesn’t matter how a person lands politically, socially or emotionally regarding the COVID. God is the one who invented kindness, and that makes him the authority on what kindness is.

God also did this – He gave us his Holy Spirit. And what does the Holy Spirit do? The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of everything Jesus ever said or did (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit is my instructor. He guides me into all truth (John 16:13). And the Holy Spirit convicts us about sin (John 16:8). This means that as a Believer, if wearing a mask were the kind thing to do, I would be prompted by the Holy Spirit to confidently promote mask wearing. Furthermore, the fact that there is no mask wearing burden on my heart at all assures me that is actually not the way to show kindness. If this were the way of kindness, God in all his wisdom and goodness surely would let me know through the power of his Holy Spirit present in my heart.

The world simply has no answers for what’s going on, so they resort to inventing and manipulating. The Holy Spirit has been instructing my heart before the virus, will instruct me during the virus and after. He always has. The world will invent arbitrary righteousness before the virus, during the virus, and after. It always has.

Dear God,
If wearing a mask stopped the virus, the cases would not be going up because everyone is certainly wearing them now. Show us how to live wisely during this time of mass deception and destructive illness. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who teaches and instructs me all the time. Thank you for telling us to brace ourselves for trouble ahead of time. A horrible virus that no one is immune to certainly qualifies as trouble, sorrow and tribulation. Thank you that you always provide, protect, intervene, heal, sustain, comfort and instruct. These are things you have always done for all the past global and personal problems humans face. Help Believers today to not fall into the trap that you’re all of a sudden not going to do those things for us right now. You most certainly are. You are great and greatly to be praised and I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.