You shall be called… the restorer of paths to live in. – Isaiah 58:12
Today concludes our series “Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled!” as we look at God’s biblical keys to lasting love. You can review the first three blogs here:
Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled! Part 1
Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled! Part 2
Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled! Part 3
Here are the final four biblical keys.
We have been discussing God’s concept of lasting love that models Christ’s love for His people. So far we covered five biblical keys to lasting love. You can review those blogs here:
Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled! Part 1
Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled! Part 2
Today we will discuss the next three biblical keys.
In our last blog, we discussed God’s concept of love that transcends the human experience into the spiritual realm. A lasting love that models Christ’s love for His people (the Church) and shows the world what love really is. We covered the first two biblical keys to lasting love. You can review that blog here:
Our Greatest Desire – Fulfilled! Part 1
Today we will discuss the next three biblical keys.
It is the height of irony that the greatest preacher in our modern society is such as miserable failure at the one thing most people desire above all else.
From the silver screen to the mobile device, the entertainment industry churns out movies, specials, video games and documentaries touting their adept understanding on the most precious and mysterious emotion of all – love. People willingly trade their hard-earned disposable income for a few minutes of fantasy about relationships that often far exceeds their own hum-drum existence. Often these same people return home more disillusioned than ever and are reminded that their own love-life falls woefully short of the on-screen thrills.
It’s easy to lose track of the meaning of Christmas in the crazy times we live. Even folk like me – the most dyed-in-the-wool believers – can get caught up in things that distract us from a fitting focus.
If we aren’t careful, holiday controversies and the “War on Christmas” will get our dander up, and have us offended and in fighting mode, instead of the proper posture that reveals God’s great love to the world (Jn 3:16). Things like this can also shift our attention away from the grateful and joyful hearts that God wants for Christmas.
With a desire to bring my own heart into proper alignment, and a hope to help others, I have compiled nine reasons that Jesus came. I hope you find it impacting.
God’s heart was breaking! He looked with great sadness upon the people who had repeatedly rejected Him. Though He had freed them from slavery in Egypt, dried up the Red Sea for their escape from Pharaoh’s army, provided for them through the wilderness and led them into their promised land, their hearts were stubborn and unyielding.
Like a husband who loves his wife deeply, God cried for them to turn back to Him. Though they had betrayed Him over and over again, He was willing to take them back and restore them to their former place of glory, but they would have no part of it.
His mission was simple. He would attend the bizarre Christian meetings and gather evidence he could use against them in the classes he taught. The night would not go as planned.
The time was the early 1900’s, the city was Los Angeles. Although traffic was already becoming a problem, there were very few roads. Motion pictures were still largely a dream although Nickelodeons had begun to pop up, and Thomas Edison had produced a feature film.
In an old livery stable, turned apartment building, turned church, a growing number of people were meeting under the leadership of William Seymour. Seymour was a simple man, he was the son of former slaves whose father had been killed fighting for the Union Army in the Civil war. The father’s death left the family absolutely devastated. Seymour was completely blind in one eye following an illness.
From pulpits to social media, the world is saturated with talk of love. By contemporary measures it would seem that there is more love today than ever before, but what does the Bible really say, have we really been misreading it for two-thousand years?
The Apostle John discusses love in this way, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7 NLT)
God called me into the ministry when I was twelve. He used a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. In the Old Testament, He used the Prophet Ezekiel to illustrate the seriousness and weightiness of the Call. From the New Testament, He used the prayer of Jesus (John 17) to reveal His heart for unity among believers.
From the time I was five, I have been blessed with the opportunity to sing and play music to Christians of many denominations. I have been honored to lead crazy Pentecostals and quiet Presbyterians, and most everyone in between. One of the many things God showed me through my experiences was that He has a lot of people earnestly desiring His presence even if they search for it in different ways.
From the Board Rooms of New York advertising agencies to school locker rooms, it is clear that we are all searching for true and lasting love. Billions of dollars, yen, sterling and other currencies trade hands every year in hopes that a product or service will somehow be the key to this elusive and priceless heart-cry.
In the process of this search, we have all been sold a bill of goods. The actors who portray perfect couples on television and movies, are often some of the worst at achieving lasting love. All too often, their home lives are a train wreck, plagued with unfaithfulness, abuse, divorce and brokenness. Their children often grow up confused and unloved – repeating the same mistakes in another generation.