Get Up With God
highly caffeinated daily bible doses to help start your morning off right

Here’s this week’s question . . .

What’s your favorite Bible verse and why?

Great question.

As you can see here, I have a hard time answering this question — I have at least 100 “favorites.” But if I had to choose just one, it would probably be . . .

God is love.
(1 John 4:16)

Even though I’ve read that verse hundreds of times, for some reason my lame brain needs to be constantly reminded that no matter how bad things may seem, one thing is absolutely certain:  GOD LOVES US.

That simple truth answers a lot of other questions . . .

Why did God create a world that gives Him so much grief? Because God is love and love is expressed in relationships (even messy ones).

Why did God give us free will? Love can’t be forced — a true love relationship involves the ability to choose love and to reject it.

Why does God save us? God doesn’t let us wallow in our sin without hope.  Because He loves us, He gives us a loving way out:  Jesus.

Why does God offer believers eternal life?  Because He loves us and wants us to be with Him forever.

Can anything ever separate us from God’s love? You be the judge:

Neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38-39)

GOD IS LOVE!

(Got some favorite verses you’d like to share? Send ‘em to me at getupwithgod1@yahoo.com. I’d love to hear from you!)

I know your deeds,
that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either one or the other!
So, because you are lukewarm –
neither hot nor cold –
I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
(Revelation 3:15-16)

The Bible says: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith: test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Take your spiritual temperature. Ask yourself these simple questions:

1. Where is your heart? “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” (Isaiah 29:13)
2. Where is your mind? Do you focus more on this world or on God? “Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:18-19) “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)
3. Do you love God with “all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”? (Matthew 22:37) Who is your first love – God or yourself? Do you passionately pursue a relationship with Him with every fiber of your being?
4. Do you “love your neighbor as yourself?” (Matthew 22:39) Do your actions show that you care for others? Or is it all about you?
5. Does your life overflow with the fruit of the Spirit? Do people see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in your life? Or do they see something else?

Here’s a quote that’s more than a century old but still rings true today:

It is not scientific doubt,
not atheism,
not pantheism,
not agnosticism,
that in our day
and in this land
is likely to quench
the light of the gospel.
It is a proud,
sensuous,
selfish,
luxurious,
church-going,
hollow-hearted
prosperity.
–Frederic Huntington

DON’T GET SPAT
LET GOD LIGHT YOUR FIRE

Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
(Psalm 10:1)

Ever have questions like these?

Watch this gut-wrenching, soul-stirring video from Willow Creek Ministries and listen closely for God’s answer.

If you have trouble viewing this video, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Thought I’d keep it simple today. Just do this:

LOVE GOD

LOVE OTHERS

REPEAT

It’s SPIRIT WEEK here on GUWG. For the next few days, we’ll be taking a closer look at each fruit of the Spirit.

Today’s featured fruit: LOVE.

Why love? There’s a reason love is first on the list. At its heart, the Bible is one gigantic love-fest. In fact, God IS love. The Bible says:

Dear friends,
let us love one another
for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves
has been born of God
and knows God.
Whoever does not love
does not know God,
because God is love.
(1 John 4:7-8)

What exactly is love? It’s not a feeling. It’s not a sentiment. It wasn’t invented by Hallmark or Hollywood.

Here’s God’s definition:

Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

LET THE SPIRIT FILL YOU
WITH LOVE TODAY

Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
(Matthew 5:44)

Think of the one person on this planet whom you despise more than anyone else. Here’s what Jesus says we should do about people like that:

Love them. Pray for them.

What would happen if people actually took Jesus’ words seriously? Think we’d have less war? Fewer shootings in our neighborhoods?

Want more peace in the world? Let it start today with you. Ask God to crack the cement around your heart and to help you love the people you hate. And then pray for them.

Need more inspiration? Here are a few additional verses for your consideration:

• A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)
• Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27b-28)
• Do not repay anyone evil for evil . . . If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. (Romans 12:17, 20)
• When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. (Romans 12b-13a)
• Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. (1 John 2:9-10a)

Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13)

Want to show real love? Lay down your life for others.

Here’s a real-life example . . .

A man named Maximilian Kolbe oversaw a monastery in Poland. After the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, Father Kolbe turned the monastery into a sanctuary that housed thousands of Poles and Jews seeking refuge.

The Gestapo soon became suspicious. Kolbe was the publisher of a monthly magazine with a readership of about one million. To incriminate Kolbe, the Gestapo allowed him to print one final issue in December 1940.

Did Kolbe hold back, knowing the Nazis were reading? Nope. Here are just a few of his words:

The real conflict is inner conflict.
Beyond armies of occupation
and the catacombs of concentration camps,
there are two irreconcilable enemies
in the depths of every soul:
good and evil,
sin and love.
And what use are victories on the battlefield
if we ourselves are defeated
in our innermost selves?

On February 17, 1941, Kolbe was arrested for aiding the Polish and Jewish underground. He was sent to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.

In July 1941, a man from Kolbe’s cell block disappeared. To deter further escape attempts, the camp commandant selected ten men at random to be put to death. One man, Francis Gajowniczek cried out, “My wife, my children. I shall never see them again!”

Father Kolbe stepped forward and volunteered to take the man’s place. The commandant asked: “Who are you?” Kolbe replied: “I am a Catholic priest. I wish to die for that man. I am old. He has a wife and children.” Kolbe and the nine others were taken away to be starved to death.

During their time of torture, Kolbe told the others about Jesus and led them in prayers and hymns. After three weeks of starvation, the guards were amazed that Kolbe and three others were still alive. They also found it odd that every time they checked on the group, Kolbe was always kneeling or standing calmly in the middle of the cell, while the others writhed on the floor, moaning and complaining.

When Kolbe was still alive several days later, the guards decided to kill him with a lethal injection. Kolbe raised his arm calmly and went to be with the Lord.

Heavenly Father,

Hep us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night
is a single mother who worked nine hours that day
and is rushing home to cook dinner,
help with homework, do the laundry
and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested
young man who can’t make change correctly
is a worried 19-year-old college student,
balancing his apprehension over final exams
with his fear of not getting his student loans next semester.

Help us remember that the scary-looking bum,
begging for money in the same spot every day
is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us remember that the old couple
walking annoyingly slowly through the store aisles
and blocking our shopping progress
is savoring this moment,
knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week,
this could be the last time they go shopping together.

Help us remember that of all the gifts you give us, the greatest is love.
Remind us that it is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.
Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity.
Let us be slow to judge and quick to show forgiveness, patience, empathy and
LOVE.

(Adapted from an anonymous prayer)

Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13)

 

The above painting has quite the story behind it . . .

In the 1490s, two struggling art students, Albrecht Dürer and Franz Knigstein, were having trouble making ends meet. Albrecht came up with a plan: he would work to support Franz’s studies and then when Franz had sold enough art to support both of them, Albrecht would quit working and go back to school. Franz liked the idea but insisted on being the first to work.

Albrecht became a highly skilled painter and engraver. When his art began to generate sufficient income to support the two of them, he returned to keep his part of the bargain. However, he was saddened to discover that Franz’s labors had left his hands too stiff and gnarled to hold a brush. Franz’s career as an artist was over before it had started.

Franz refused to be bitter. One day, Albrecht returned home to find him kneeling by his bed, his hands uplifted in prayer, asking God for continued blessings on Albrecht’s artistic endeavors. Deeply struck by his friend’s unselfish acts of love, Albrecht sat down and sketched what would become by far his most famous work — the “Praying Hands.”

This is how we know what love is:
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to do the same for our brothers.
(1 John 3:16)

For where two or three come together in my name,
there I am with them.
(Matthew 18:20)

And let us consider
how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another –
and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25)

When I look back over my life, most of the stupid stuff I did happened when I was alone. God knows that we’re weakest when we’re by ourselves — that’s why he designed other human beings.

Consider the Trinity for a moment. It’s a beautiful picture of how relationships are supposed to be. Father, Son and Holy Spirit — three people who live in such a tight, loving community that they’re truly one.

It’s a love party. God loves to hang out with us. And God loves it when we hang out with others. Our relationships should reflect the love and unity that’s in the Trinity.

HANG OUT WITH GOD AND OTHERS