How to Show Love! Can you perceive it?

How to Show Love! Can you perceive it?            Kelly Durant   2-12-23

 

 

1 John 3:16

16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

 

2. We will talk about love today! I actually could talk about love all year long! I was about 13 when the Beatles sang “Love, Love, Love”, and at that time that message was speaking to everyone, “All you need is love! It’s true, but what we need is God’s love, and the love of each other, or we will shrivel up and die!

 

In I John 3:16 (a supplement to John 3:16) it begins with; ‘Hereby, perceive we the love of God’. The first key word is…perceive! Love is not love until you give it away. Love is a manifestation of an action which is from some feeling, or emotion, or passion: an action! Love is hard to describe but to give an illustration it is like the wind that we can see by what its affecting, but we cannot see the wind itself. We often try to write about love, millions have, but it’s complicated!

 

Today some people want to degrade love into having a meaning only in s-x, in something only carnal when love is Spiritual. That is a very huge misconception promoted by deceivers twisting perception. In perspective: God is love! 

 

3. Love is the opposite of selfishness, instead of the person making him or herself the owner and center of everything; it is a position that gives up all status and possessions to share with another. Look at the way Jesus showed love! He gave up His life! He even died in a horrible way because it was God’s plan for Him to be our atonement for sin. His love was healing, redeeming, forgiving, and beyond!

 

In the verse we perceive what is implied by knowing all of what Jesus did for us, he died on the cross and gave us the forgiveness of sins and the gift of resurrection for eternal life. 

‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren’. He set the example of how far love should go! Do you perceive that!?

 

4. Jesus chose to give up all of what He could offer us, and this included His time, talent, and treasure. He gave up all, all the time while He was alive and then He gave up all in his death. Laying down his life was something that was a proof, and manifestation of love all while here on earth. Laying down His life for us implied that this was for all people of all nations and tribes, in the past, present, and future!

 

We know how Jesus gave up all to show us love, so now let’s meditate on how to get others to perceive His love and our love inspired by Him. Before applying this to the work of God, let’s apply it to the normal universal human relationships which God created as an example for us to learn from.

 

5. The effects of love we can understand, or perceive, in the manifestation of the 3 T’s; time , talent, or treasure. I recall as early as age 14 when one had feelings of love for another girl (or guy for the women) the expected was that you show off your talent. You had to reveal your love! I have written several dozens of poems in my life while in school and I am sure most of you have too. And around this time of year Valentine’s Day cards and poems are sent and mailed and delivered, not to mention chocolate and flowers, so love has become a multimillion-dollar industry!  

 

Just to erase any doubts the most beautiful and intense songs I have written have been for my wife Regina! One Chorus of a song states this:

“And every day you choose to stay, shows how love wins anyway!

Hey, I know love is for eternity, Hey, You know it is what made us to be!”

 

Common poems were like this: Roses are red, violets are blue

Sugar is sweet my love, but not as sweet as you! 

(But being commercialized, few respond to these kinds of words anymore, ha!)

To prove love’s intensity, or passion, you must apply your own personal unique creative inspired talent to make a difference!

 

6. Another proof of love is in treasure, or the sacrificial part; how much are you willing to spend or give up? If she knows you have a lot of money and you buy one rose only, instead of a dozen you may be in trouble for being looked at as cheap! When there is love, the other person expects to be treated with more class than the ordinary. Love must have evidence of being over the top!

 

To prove seriousness, or dedication in love, you must apply your personal money, material goods or treasures. In life, whether it is for your mate, children, parents, or a friend, when you show you are willing to sacrifice in way that it counts, costs, or is a sacrifice, then you make an impression. 

 

Until you or I sacrifice something in a big way, we won’t be proving we have much love. The cost of love is that it does have to come with a sacrifice!

 

7. Another imperative factor for love is time. You cannot say to your boyfriend (or girlfriend) I love you, but I don’t have time to talk to you because ‘I am too busy’!? For important people, the ones we love, our bosses, or our friends, we all have a tendency to make time to communicate! If you are not sharing all the details of your life, your dreams, your pains, your desires with the one you claim to love, then how could that one believe that there is love present?

 

To prove credibility, or confidence in love, you must take time to share your innermost secrets, fears, desires, and dreams.

Taking these examples on the manifestations of love, we can apply them as a thermometer to determine the hot or cold temperature we have in our love for God.

Let’s review this one more time with loving God and others in mind…

 

8. Talent: Do you share your talent with God and others? Some of you do it well and Regina and I, and everyone here, and in particular God, sees every little thing done with your talents. You show your love by: cooking, painting, teaching, singing, cleaning, leading meetings, and disciplining. God knows the names of the faithful and so do we.

 

Treasure: Any program, any building, any operation requires money and thank God we are able to keep on going due to your tithe and offering support, the support of the outside donations, and by the major gifts donated by those who have it and are generous with it! I know many of you give the maximum of what you can, and God knows, and he blesses the cheerful giver. I have seen others give their time since they did not have any money or goods and that is valid as well and I am amazed at how God keeps providing for the church and for each of you!

 

Time: I have given out books to lots of folks as a tool to help each person spend more time with God. We must be doing more prayer, and more prayer in cell groups too.  Everyone must spend quality time with God, we all must study His word and consume it as our daily bread, so we learn what it is He desires from us. Imagine if you have a friend but you never want to spend time with them or learn about their wishes or needs? It takes time to love!

 

9. We pray and talk to Jesus as our best friend, so He knows we are honoring Him and His Father, and our time spent with Him is proof of our connection to Him through mental and verbal communication. 

 

And finally, finishing the verse it states: ‘and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren’. The point is, Jesus proved His love, He laid down His life: now all of us are forever challenged to prove our love by showing the same level of sacrifice! Thank God very few of us will have to die on a cross like Jesus did but we must be as sacrificial as He was. Proof requires manifestation in time, talent, and treasure all given to God’s work, and to another, a brother or sister!

 

With these perceptions out on the table it is time to evaluate how good a lover you are. Do you spend quality talent, treasure, and time with the one you claim to love? Or with your friends? What about your enemies, Jesus even states for us to love our enemies!

 

And with God? If God were to measure your love for Him, what do you do to show your love for Him and to show your love for your neighbor as yourself? Mark 12:30-31

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 

10. We have the standard of Jesus laying down His life and this was the maximum love ever expressed by God and by His Son on earth! Doesn’t this type of supernatural, unexplainable, amazing, intense, merciful love provoke a response?! How much will you love back then?

 

There is a limit and a balance to loving others, however. Matt 7:6

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

 

You and I both have had bad experiences with other human beings with whom we have given a lot of love to; we have given our passion, our dedication, and our confidence only to be betrayed because they were too selfish and arrogant to understand what love is and be reciprocating and thankful. Measure if others are thankful or ungrateful, giving something or nothing in return. Returning indifference for your passion, and indifference for your love is hurtful and sad.

 

Are you a person full of love yet? If you are then let’s see and perceive you serving God, loving Him and others, being on fire, speaking up, and giving of yourself! 

Love everyone today! Love God and Jesus back with a passion! Love your brother and give your life for him or her as the scripture spoke!

The Christian Saints of 100 Years Ago, We Need Them Again!

The Saints 100 Years Ago, We Need Them Again! Kelly Durant Re 7-14-24

1 Peter 2:5

You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  John 4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  

 

 

2. You may have heard that the farmer was doing a fund raiser, and the chicken and the pig wanted to help. The chicken piped up, “We can sell a breakfast!” What a good idea all agreed. The chicken then said, “We can do ham and eggs!” There was silence. The pig said, “Well, for you that only requires one day of work, but for me it is a total sacrifice!” How much do you sacrifice for God? 

 

Some of you may have a good imagination, but I want you to try to imagine what it was like around 100 years ago when this Corps was founded. What did the first couple go through? How did they arrive? What conditions existed? What was life like then, was it hard or easy? 

 

I can tell you this, they did not arrive to a nice house and church as we did, they were sent here to open up not just a church and their own living quarters, they also needed to raise funds to create a shelter and do social work to serve suffering humanity. What an example of being dedicated to God! They needed to have a great faith and God blessed them.

 

3. Let’s explore three aspects of what was happening back then, what was happening in the world, what was happening in the Salvation Army, and what was happening to these first set of Officers in Oklahoma. In all honesty we owe them our deepest respect as they gave of themselves as a total sacrifice for God. What amazing dedication! Where are young people valiant and dedicated as they were today? Times are better but few will dedicate!

 

How hard life was back then! Most people in the United States lived on small farms, raising pigs and chickens and they had no electricity, few cars existed, and washing clothes, preparing food, and doing daily chores including transporting oneself around town by foot (or horse) and it was laborious and time consuming. Life in the 1920s was rustic almost like living as in the time of Jesus!

 

Just trying to make a living was hard back then and everyone in the family chipped in. Read history, the usual story was that the young sons started working at age 10 or 12 to help support the family. Many went off to fight in the war (WW1) at age 16 like my own uncles, and they sent home most all of their checks to their mothers so they would have enough food, wood for the fires, and clothing to survive.

 

4. The world was a horrible mess back then! Satan is always trying to destroy people with mega death in wars, disease, and starvation. He drums up hate and division, greed and a lust for power to the point leaders become obsessed with killing their foes. World War 1 had just finished in the 20s but the Corps was opened 10 years before then and there were many homeless Soldiers returning needing jobs in the cities plus a place to live.  Soup kitchens were needed to provide a bowl of soup from day to day for them, and for the widows and children.

The Spanish flu pandemic had hit and 500 million died worldwide! Mega death continued around the world as the Bolsheviks took over Russia in their 1917 Communist Revolution. Despite almost every family having lost a relative in the war, there was optimism that everyone had a chance to prosper as new machines, a new railroad system, and a faith in God offered people hope for a good future. 17 million in the U.S. alone died from being in that war which was about 1 in every 5 American people! What horrible suffering, right? What dark times and it was only about 100 years ago!

 

The good news is most everyone went to church back then and read their Bibles and prayed at home. I recall my grandmother’s thick old Bible with many notes in it. Before many public records were kept only in the family Bibles on the death, marriage, and birth pages of the first pages in the Bibles! 

 

5. The Salvation Army began in London in 1865, precisely during the time of the Civil War in the United States. It did not take long for the popularity of the street preaching to be popular, and Army marching bands prospered and expanded into many countries worldwide. In 1878 Eliza Shirley at age 17 started the first work in Philadelphia and within just a few decades the work opened up in many dozens of U.S. cities with thousands of new converts nationwide with just a few hundred Officers to start it all up. Imagine arriving from England, after over a month on a ship with nothing but a suitcase, a uniform, and faith in God!

 

One reason the Salvation Army expanded so quickly was due to the persecution in England in the 1880s as Officers became so numerous that many of the drunken sailors and jealous dead established church leaders wanted them gone. Their Biblical preaching of holiness begging the sinner to repent was too much for the sinful crowds who overindulged in the prostitution of 12-year-old girls, unrepentant thievery of all kinds, and massive drunkenness in all the pubs. It was an Acts 1:8 to an Acts 8:1 all over again!

 

The conditions of the world were very violent, abusive, and exploitive and to confront this evil The Salvation Army decried war on it all! These pioneers fought for the truth and for the salvation of souls and facing our reality, we can observe the world still remains violent, abusive, and exploitive. Each generation has its own mission to do and to fight for the healing of the suffering ones. There is always a new breed of weeds growing amongst the wheat and no person should ever delay in obeying the call of God to be preaching love, righteousness, and salvation.  John 4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! God wants us active for Him from harvest to harvest!

 

6. Now, put yourselves in the shoes of the arriving Officers in Oklahoma. These are people on fire for God sent to open a work with no money, no horse and buggy, no home, and no idea of what will happen. Will the people receive them, or will they run them out of town? What faith they had! What obedience and conviction they displayed!

 

Obviously, it went well for them as within a few months churches and good people supported them to open a house where they could live, conduct church services, serve soup to the public, provide a room for a men’s shelter, and even be able to resell donated items. No other churches did social work back then, and it seems they got good support as other churches got convicted that they should be doing what we were doing to feed the multitudes and help the needy as Jesus described it in Matthew 25. Obedience will bring on the blessings of God!  

 

Would you do all these ministries from your rented home? Only in America are we now so comfortable to not do them. Around the world in poor countries many Officers still work as these ones did 100 years ago. They do all ministries from their own homes, even running schools and I can testify this is what I witnessed in Jamaica, Mexico, and even in some small poor American cities here. 

 

7. We must live with the same conviction they have and as others had in the past! For evil to prosper in the world all that is needed is that good people do nothing! If we have a comfortable job, a roof over your head, maybe even a car, and food on our table every day, we must remember we are a part of the world’s top 10% of the wealthy. You and I are so blessed we must share the blessings to bless others with the good news of Jesus!

 

In Cuba the Officers ride bicycles, and in most all the world few own their own vehicles. We can observe that despite millions dying of hunger in dozens of countries, I have never seen Officers forsaken with nothing, God supplies! Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.

 

Jesus sent the disciples out with just the shirt on their backs and God provided! Matthew 10: 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. 11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

 

8. When my wife and I were first married 46 years ago we travelled around the south of Brazil, in Rio Grande Del Sur, as described here, with no money. I had my guitar and 20 Portuguese songs and Bible verses memorized and we sang in rest homes, jails, and orphan homes, took pictures, and then requested donations from hotels, restaurants, and banks. By a miracle, living this life of faith, God always provided enough! 

 

It was one of the most exciting times of our lives! We prayed with thousands the “sinner’s prayer” and we felt the Holy Spirit’s joy in a manner I think few ever experience! We were living in the clouds! I will compare our experience to this episode where the disciples were so happy the people thought they were drunk. Acts 2: 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day (9 am). 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

 

There is an unexplained euphoria that happens when you preach Jesus to strangers and Jesus comes into their lives! When a person accepts Jesus and cries out loud with tears asking God for forgiveness, there is an overwhelming happiness that soon takes over and it is the Holy Spirit’s fire! And this is our logo for salvation: Jesus’ blood, and the Holy Spirit’s fire! 

 

9. All a person needs to do is to open their mouth about Jesus and the Lord will fill it with the right words at the right time, and even in another language when necessary! It does not matter the time period, whether a person lived 2,000 years ago, 100 years ago or 100 seconds ago, the Holy Spirit is ready to do a great work through you! Are you letting God use you as He wants to? We observe today that too few put their selves at God’s service not caring about the material comforts, or not worrying about how big a sacrifice they will have to make.  

 

I am sure the first arriving Officers here in Muskogee experienced many challenges! But they must have felt the euphoria of winning souls on the street corners, and they felt the love of others as they shared with them their homes and goods and a way to start up the first Corps. Take into account they also felt the fear of the unknown, and the sadness of getting to know people who had lost loved ones in all the world’s battles and tragedies. 

 

Before it seemed that it was outside enemies that destroyed lives, but today we see an increase in dark forces inside destroying those in our community. We observe lives destroyed by debauchery, by illicit sexual activity, by the addiction of drugs and alcohol, by the poverty augmented by absent fathers, and by the cruelty of exploitations and abuse in the home.

 

10. Don’t think that just because the Salvation Army fought the good fight of faith in the past that we can ride on our past accomplishments and be comfortable now! Every generation has a new calling to obey God and every generation has new evils to battle against and the evil today of Satanic cults is on the rise! Practically no music or movie is produced anymore without the Luciferian illuminati symbols being present! Thousands give testimony that the elites are involved in Satanic rituals! And when a Satanic human sacrificing slave owning person gets exposed as being connected to all the corrupt leaders of the world, they get suicided! (as in the case of Jeffrey Epstein & others!) 

 

We should be appalled at how sin is flaunted before our innocent children’s eyes on TV, in June parades, and in public schools and libraries! How is it that anyone can google millions of pages of Satanic perverted porn while at the same time these high-tech elites censor the name of Jesus as offensive? Our rights and constitution are being replaced by technocratic supremacies who are spoiled millionaires mocking God and censoring His people!

 

Are our current youth programmed and brainwashed as the youth of Hitler were being conditioned to hate certain people and groups while praising others that only contribute to the divisiveness and hate in society?  Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  

 

A great judgment is coming! Another cycle of evil is returning soon as history proves but this time it appears Satan is ready to take over everything for world dominion! In the end the Bible is true and all of Revelation will come to pass. For the New World Order to dominate we see the technology is already existing, many dictatorships are already in place, and all that is needed is for them to eliminate the ones who expose it and give it resistance. Jesus’ truth is the resistance! Stand with Him and you will win battles and free souls until your and my time is up! You are Jesus’ priesthood! Stand with Jesus and gain rewards in heaven for all your sacrifice and labor of building His house! See what it cost our forefathers and show yourself to God to be as dedicated as the past ones were so that you are counted with those honorable faithful few!

 

 

 

 

 

Compassion: Without Love, One Is Guilty of Hate

Compassion: Without Love, One Is Guilty of Hate

Compassion: Without it you are Guilty of Hate        Kelly Durant 

I Jn 3:14-18 

1 John 3:14-18 New King James Version (NKJV)

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

 

2.Compassion is sympathy for the suffering and a desire to help!

They say that giving a beggar a piece of bread is a civil duty, but to give him a bread with butter on it, now that is compassion! Compassion is a divine quality something that is in all cultures with a certain measure, but the damaging thing today is that it is something very much lacking in many cultures. 

 

The level of the spiritual, cultural, and moral development of any culture or people could be measured by how much compassion they have on others, especially on others different from their own selves! Reflect on history, I deduct that it has been mostly Christians throughout time that have proven over and over to be the ones to lead and to help when there is a dire need or severe crisis. 

 

Today I want you to ask yourself, how much compassion do I have? How much compassion does this community have? I think it still lacks all that is needed!

 

3. Are you the center of your universe, or is Jesu’s love at the center? 

In order to have compassion, you must have the ability to put yourself into the shoes of the other person. This takes not just a creative mind, but a willing heart! 

 

Think about what is inside of you. If you are only full of your own wants, your own needs, then you are self-focused. You have your-self as the center of your life, or at the center of the universe. This selfishness is what causes societies to come unglued and people start hating each other due to a lack of love. 

 

But if you have Jesus at the center of your life & heart, you will have the same heart of compassion and love that He has, and you will be willing to help anyone, anytime, of any race, just like in the story of the Good Samaritan.

4. Do you, to get what you want, throw a childlike temper tantrum, or do you intimidate and bully, or in hypocrisy spread hate on others who won’t treat you as a king or queen? Being self-focused is hate focused! Having no love means having no God of love in your life which means no salvation either! The verses today, 1 John 3:14,15 have within their context the relationship of how hate is connected to refusing to help someone in need and God equivocates this as murder. 

 

What is the difference between an adult and a child? A child only wants to get what he wants no matter the situation and they scream to get it. Some kids, even as big as teenagers will yell to their parents, “I hate you!” just to try and get what they want from them. We know, we lived through 5 of them!

 

Un-Christian indoctrinated by the world people do not care if you or the government doesn’t have the money or conditions to please them giving them all the power and money they want; they just want what they want and they therefore try to take it by aggressive force! Haters, and those who accuse others over their class or race are harboring death in their souls. They attract demon possessions and often become murders as stated in 1 John 3:15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

 

 

5. Hate=Murder: not giving to others in need! In the state of Alaska, where mostly whites and brown natives share the roads, if a person is on the street with a car motor stalled, by law you must stop and pick up that person. The reason for this is that person could actually freeze to death and die in some -30 below 0 temperatures within 10 minutes!

 

Not helping someone with a need is heartless and insensitive and it could cause their death.  But a real sacrifice to help someone with a need, that is a must, and sacrificial people will often receive honor and praise for being compassionate and saving someone’s life or situation!

 

Only love, not hate makes you pass from death to life! What we do in this life brings us either praise or scorn from God and from those around us. The people who let their selves be touched by Jesus’ love to the point that they want to be like Him, reveals they have entered into life with Him. However, hate, which is a violent rejection, is a carnal, natural occurring human quality, but no one admires this horrible quality unless they are brainwashed by Satan’s people. Terrorists, racists, and warmongerers, are those that bring death and suffering to others and themselves. Everyone is on one path or the other, life, or death! 

 

6. Ask yourself, who do you hate secretly? Have you ever really tried to look deep into your heart as to why you do not like someone or somebody or a certain people? You may have an undiscovered bitterness; everyone does, and you need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what that is so you can be free from it or it will condemn your soul to hell!

 

Hate manifests itself in bitterness, violence, and a non-stop stream of words that criticize, demean, and divide. Sadly, we see an increase of this of late!

 

These things separate you from the God of love. We hear in the media the hate of races but I have discovered many people secretly hate pastors, or sincere Christian leaders because they are envious of their power and influence over people. 

 

They are jealous over the love they receive because they cannot get love because they do not sew love to reap it! So, they want to destroy anyone loving not being willing to love and sacrifice themselves as Jesus did. Jesus warned that if they hated Him, they will hate you and me as well.

 

7. To get love and compassion you and I must give our lives in service to Jesus! There is no noble society where selfishness is worshipped as virtue, all cultures value the sacrifice of others. But sacrifice to be honored by God should be done in the way as Jesus defined it in Matthew 25, caring for the hungry, thirsty, and poor; caring for the imprisoned and the destitute. 

 

Compare what Jesus taught to this bad example of sacrifice: In India, with the Hindu religion, the tradition has been that wives will allow their selves to be burned alive with their husbands’ dead bodies when they are at their funerals! 

 

That is a type of sacrifice our God of love does not desire! Laying down your life for Jesus means doing as he did, and that was in loving serving sacrifice. But these poor ladies do this because their idea of God is sadly totally distorted from the truth of God. Terrorists operate in the same way praising sacrifice when it involves murder. Do you see how important it is to follow how Jesus defines what compassion and sacrifice really should be?

 

8. By their fruits you will know them! (Matt 7:20) The people that do good things for others and claim they do it for the love of our Lord Jesus, and it is obvious are not seeking glory, compensation, or recognition, should be honored as true and good. Those that do real deeds of compassion must be motivated out of their love for God. In the Salvation Army this ‘love for God’ is even in our mission statement.

 

Notice how in the community every now and then some persons may comment terrible things about someone doing good, and why? These critics obviously have an evil heart and do not understand how people can be sincere in doing good works, that people do good because of pure love. Bad people always falsely accuse, and often these same ones got helped by the ones they criticize! 

 

I have experienced at times hateful words that came from nowhere! For example, there might be a volunteer helping us many days and then later in comes to light that some others would be secretly accusing that they were getting their rent paid by us to help them. Do you see how evil minds fabricate lies? Usually, people who accuse falsely have never been ones to do good works and help with a sincere heart, have you ever noticed that? 

 

9. The compassion of the world?! Satan is compassionate, in his own way, have you ever thought about that? He wants to show you and me he is more just and loving than God. However, in his ‘social justice scheme of things, the sharing of the goods from the rich to give to the poor, or from one people group to another, he murders millions! 

 

Satan works hard with his demons to run this world’s government systems, usurping God’s authority, and how does he do it? He establishes political systems of abusive that with murderous power give some crumbs to the poor to show how he will take care of the people better than what God’s people can.

 

Communism, the forced sharing of wealth offends God (it is imitating and mocking Acts 2:44.45) and enslaves everyone since it puts a gun in the face of those who worked to get what they have in order to give it to those who did not work or do anything to deserve it. What makes these traitors and terrorist feel worthy of these stolen goods is their faithfulness to worship their horrible socialist (or religious) leaders as gods for being so compassionate. Abhorrent, don’t you think? 

 

10. Excuses or compassion? In the end Satan convinces people to follow corrupt systems of false hopes when God’s people are doing too little to help. With all the churches in the United States, you would think there should not be a need that the government give a check to the unemployed or sick. Christians are supposed to be taking care of each other and of others outside of the church who are suffering. 

 

In the New Testament recall God’s sharing system: Acts 2:44-45⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. If we’re not helping each other, then we are failing God, and he will accept no excuses.

 

Love implies action! Compassion! Think a minute, what evidence is there for you to prove you have showed compassion to someone? Could you tell me about something you have done recently, and do you have a habit of helping those in need? If you are not in action, if there are not deeds to back up your words of good wishes for others, then compassion to you is just an esoteric term, not a tangible reality manifested in this world. It is not too late to get busy for the Lord!

 

11. Start with us: The SA is known for its compassion. I probably have told you many times that I love the Salvation’s Army way of serving others. Imagine you are not just being a part of a church but a part of a massive social work with over 3 million Soldiers and volunteers, with thousands of shelters, rehab centers, schools, and assistance happening world-wide! For me it is the most compassionate church that exists, that is why I choose to belong to it. But our compassion is limited to each person’s willingness to express it and what you do does affects a piece of the whole picture. It makes you proud to have a good name, right? But how sad when people may report that a certain work is doing nothing to help anyone in need!

 

People with compassion are full of love and compassion is a fruit of that love. Choose today how you are going to live, showing mercy as God shows mercy, or being hard hearted? Consider this: Proverbs 21:13 ¹³Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. God will deal with each person by how they have dealt with those he has created, your fellow man. Jesus said Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

 

12. People without love & compassion have never had a repentance! I am convinced by the verses of today, that those who do not love and help others in need are still full of hate and this makes them guilty before God as being a murderer. 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

 

Those who selfishly only take care of themselves and never show compassion will discover God is angry with them and they will have no part in heaven! If you have the doubt that you are not full of compassion, that you are cold hearted, and you really do not care if your brother or sister’s suffering, then come and pray and ask God to break and remake you. 

 

In heaven there will only be those who have shown compassion which was motivated by their love for Jesus. The ones who have been rich and shared their riches will have rewards in heaven too if they have believed as Zacchaeus did. All the disciples had it, and every true authentic Christian will have testimonies of helping others too as a proof of their love for God, Jesus, and their neighbor! Now is our prayer time to ask the Lord for forgiveness if he is reminding you of sometime that you failed someone with a need. Or if the Lord has not converted your heart, then come and ask for Him to change it today!

LOVE! God Created All kinds!

 LOVE! God Created All kinds!                              By Kelly Durant   Re 2-11-24

 

Scripture Verses: I John 4:7-22

 

2.There is a story about a little child about 10 years old who wanted to get something special for his mother for Valentines. He asked his friends at school what their Mommies usually got for Valentines and the other kids at school said, well, they usually saw them get clothing. Well, the boy had saved $10 dollars, and he went to the store with his Aunt and sneaked off to the clothing department. He told the store clerk he wanted something for $10 for his Mommy and she asked him what size. 

 

The boy said, gee, I don’t know that, but he explained he that she is the most best and prettiest woman on earth! The lady in the store thinking she must be about the size of an average person by his description gave him a medium size hat, thinking it was a good guess for that amount of money. Well, a few days later the clerk saw the boy again and he asked the lady to change the hat. He found out after Valentine’s Day what her size was and what she needed an X-large! Well, when you love someone, you don’t see their size, or any distinctions as you see them as beautiful! Right?

 

3.What we read makes it very clear that if you do not have love for your bother then you do not know God! I thought today we would speak reflect on the different kinds of love since we are close toValentines Day and some people stop and reflect a little more on what love is. You may be familiar that the Greeks had different types of love, the love for God, pure spiritual love is Agape. Eros was the love between a man and a woman; and Philos is the love between brothers and family. Storge is the love between parents and children, and Xenia, the love for friends which is shown by hospitality.

 

Let’s examine each of these from the Bible. Even though the Greeks define it this way, love is something that includes everyone, all, but in a special way of showing it!

 

What is the first and greatest commandment as defined by God’s Son, Jesus? Let’s look it up.    Matt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

4.To show our love towards God, we should be at all times loving Him by wanting to spend time Him with all of our heart and soul! We can show our love by reading and reflect on His Word daily, and by ‘praying without ceasing’. If we spend time with God then we will be full of His spirit and full of His Love! 

 

The worst thing a Christian can do is to be out of touch with God, not praying, not reading his Word, and simply not loving Him! When you see another Christian being critical of others, complainy and rude, prejudice, and unloving then take note that they are not just letting their brothers down but they are actually offending God!

 

5. We must pray for them!  Your brothers & sisters here are made in the semblance of God and no one ever has a right to think they are better than, or of more importance than another person, because we show our love for God in the way we serve and treat one another! Jesus made it clear when He said that ‘if you have done it unto his servants, you have done it to God’. Matt 25:40

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Love begets love!

 

Those Christians who truly love God are those that love the most and they are the most humble and happy and willing to do anything at anytime for anybody! So when we talk about loving God, which is the same as loving your neighbor, we also are talking about setting aside a special time for Him, a time to pray and a time to learn from His Word because how can we know Him without learning about Him?

 

6. It would be like comparing say, Kevin, or any single person here, who may have said I have a new girlfriend now and her name, is say, Sally. So, one day a few months years later I ask Sally, How is it going with Kevin? And she says, well, he rarely talks to me excepts when he needs something, I wrote him a whole bunch of love letters so he would know all about me, but he obviously hasn’t read them because he doesn’t answer me.

 

He does come to see me on Sundays though, but even then, He only visits an hour!?

Do you see how God must feel when we are not close to Him & love Him back?

 

We love God by honoring His presence in our lives in every minute in everyday and in every decision we make, amen?

When we talk about Agape love, we are talking about an emotional happiness like having a feast with one another, now that is loving God and one another with God’s love. Let’s look up John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 

7.Philios is the love for brothers and sisters. I know it is impossible to be friends with everyone here in the Corps but if we really have a Divine love of God for one another, we will do our best to connect with, and have love for everyone the same. 

Here in the US, there is a city with the name Philadelphia and that means it is the city of brotherly love. The Philios part means the love towards our brothers. Thank God that our Christian forefathers of this country tried to set up a good standard to live by, but the reality today is that it is just another big crime filled city like so many in the world.

 

Many of us here wear the same uniform, and uniform or not as Christians we are in the same heavy battle together against the evil and sin in the world! Love, which is more than just a handshake, is giving a helping hand to someone in need. 

 

How many of you have helped your brothers here with a ride, food money, or a job? Those that do that are practicing the love we preach and believe in and living as Christ! If we know about a person here without a job, or a place to live we should be as concerned for them as we would be for our selves! God’s love for another always has them in mind to help them obtain what they need. 

I will confess several times I have suffered and even cried because I did not have the means to help another person with what they needed. A few years ago, I remember a case when I was asked to help a young woman who is now paralyzed for life in a wheelchair due to the drunk coyotes who were bringing her across the dessert from Mexico crashed the vehicle and she got crushed inside. 

 

She can’t get federal aid and she is stayed with an unemployed friend with no means to help her! What I can only do at times is pray for others of the church or in the world and many many times I have seen God answer and supply for them when I could not do anything personal! 

 

8. Love should cause us to love one another, pray for one another, and to be caring friends with one another, knowing each other’s spiritual needs and faults, and we must help one another to grow and live a higher standard in God’s Love! Amen?

 

And what about the Eros love which is exalted on Valentine’s Day? It is the intimate love God intended for a man and a woman to have for one another. God made us to be attracted to the opposite sex and the Bible even praises human relations as a gift from God. Let’s look up Song of Solomon 1:2 (Read this on Valentine’s Day)

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. (We will stop there because that is enough, right? Ha Ha!) 

               

Relations inside a marriage covenant was made to be pleasureful! Those that do not have God’s love have a serious problem though because they want intimate relations without including the One who created it! God commanded rules concerning man and woman relationships that protect us from harm and diseases, and all relationships include responsibilities with privileges, right?

 

The intimacy that two human beings have is not just physical, but mental, and spiritual! And it is an example or reflection of the deep love Christ wants us to have for Him because we are compared to be His bride. Rev. 21:9. But those that violate God’s standard miss the blessing of obtaining a true Love and a true relationship, and they reap the consequences of a low self esteem, a heavy conscience, and a burned bitter and cold heart towards the opposite sex and humanity!

 

Romantic love can be very beautiful and make your heart pound with great joy! And for those who are married, I pray you are being Romantic and ‘being special’ with your mate having a close communication and relationship! It is nice we set aside a Valentine’s Day to help us to remember to be nice and special to our mates or girlfriends but what must hurt God is to see so many couples together with a love that is dead, without communication, beauty, or passion. 

 

9. The wrong way is when the man works all week and then parties with his buddies on the weekend, and his poor wife gets stuck alone with the kids and the dirty laundry! If that is your case God’s knows your suffering, and we should talk about it to see how to make things better! 

 

However, we do see a lot of families out together on Sundays and that makes me very happy to see especially those who come to our church Corps!

 

Storge is the love between parents and children, and it is sad that today many people suffer due to a loss of love between their family members. This is happening due to sin, selfishness, jealousy, and unthankfulness playing a big role in this society of dog eat dog. As Christians we must fight to exalt the families we know and support them! Parents need to love their kids and not push them off just to be on the phone or TV.

 

Xenia is the love for friends which are quests, and this is shown by hospitality. I am sure we all have had quests in our homes, and it is a love that is done by serving another.  There are some people who almost never practice this type of love, but you should try it.

In the end love is what we reap if it is what we sew. When I open my doors, others will open their doors for me, right?  

 

We conclude that God has a great plan for us, using love as a tool, and that plan is to transform humanity with His Love! 

 

If we as Christians would just obey and love God and our neighbor in the radical way He intended then there would be no more selfishness and more wars, no more hunger because we would all share equally, no more prejudice and crime since we would all “do unto others as we would like to have done unto ourselves” and this earth could be a paradise with all of us living by the standard of God’s love! 

 

10. How beautiful that would be!  And how is the love of God? God manifested His love to us through Jesus, and His way of communicating love was to sacrifice His life in order to give each of us eternal life!

 

Don’t get it wrong, so many people think that love is a feeling, a passion, a bunch of chemicals at work in our body, or an ideal that is an illusion, but we as Christians all know love is that and more than that:It is a sacrifice, a total giving of oneself to serve God and others. An expression that is wonderful, uplifting, and invigorating!

 

God created all the different kinds of love but in reality, they are all the same, they involve deep emotions, passion, sacrifice, suffering, and the total giving of yourself!

 

How much do you love? It will be apparent by the things you do and the way you live! How much you love will determine how much you are loved back! Have you accepted Jesus, God’s gift of Love to you?  Do you want true love in your life? Jesus is pure love!  Let’s pray….