AGAPE LOVE

AGAPE LOVE

Paul reminded the church at Corinth the kind of love Christ offers to us: agape love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NKJV).

Don’t we need the same prescription today? Don’t groups still fight with each other? Don’t we flirt with those we shouldn’t? Aren’t we sometimes quiet when we should speak? Someday there will be a community where everyone behaves and no one complains, but it won’t be this side of heaven. So till then we reason, we confront, we teach. But most of all we love.

Such love isn’t easy—not even for Jesus. Listen to his frustration in Mark 9:19 (NCV): “You people have no faith. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you?” How long? Until it kills me. Jesus bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. Even the cross.

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

Where Joseph Stood

On the night when Jesus was born, I wonder if Joseph prayed, “Father, this all seems so bizarre. The angel you sent? Any chance you could send another?”

You’ve stood where Joseph stood. Each of us knows what it’s like to search the night for a light. Not outside a stable, but perhaps outside an emergency room or the manicured grass of a cemetery. We’ve asked our questions. We’ve wondered why God does what he does. If you’re asking what Joseph asked, let me urge you to do what Joseph did: obey. He didn’t let his confusion disrupt his obedience.

What about you? You have a choice: to obey or disobey. Because Joseph obeyed, God used him to change the world. Can he do the same with you? Will you be that kind of person? Will you serve, even when you don’t understand?

Out on a Limb

”After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18 NKJV).

Joseph was perched firmly on his branch in the tree. Predictable and solid, Joseph had no intention of leaving it. That is, until he was told to go out on a limb. “Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Come on! Who will believe me?” Pride told him not to do it, but God told him to do it.

Have you been called to got out a limb for God? I have a feeling you can relate to Joseph. One foot in your will and one foot in his. His or yours? Disrupting, isn’t it? You can bet it won’t be easy. Limb-climbing has never been. Ask Joseph. Or better yet, ask Jesus! He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree.

AGAPE LOVE

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Where Joseph Stood

Out on a Limb

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