A Life of Love

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Events in life often intertwine, connecting different situations in most interesting ways. Recently, two different events brought me to 1 Corninthians 13, the first was writing verses 4-7 on small signs for my daughter's wedding, and the second was preparing for Bible Study which lead me to read a sermon on Heaven by Jonathan Edwards where he begins with verses 8-10. Although the former verses were very familiar to me, the later verses held something I'd never considered before. 

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:8-10

Edwards in his sermon "Heaven, a World of Love" richly sermonizes a life of love. Focusing on "when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away" he shows us the great difference there is with imperfect love on earth and how glorious and wonderful perfect love will be in Heaven. Here is how Edwards concludes his sermon:

 "See that you live a life of love — of love to God, and love to men. All of us hope to have part in the world of love hereafter, and therefore we should cherish the spirit of love, and live a life of holy love here on earth. This is the way to be like the inhabitants of heaven, who are now confirmed in love forever. Only in this way can you be like them in excellence and loveliness, and like them, too, in happiness, and rest, and joy. By living in love in this world you may be like them, too, in sweet and holy peace, and thus have, on earth, the foretastes of heavenly pleasures and delights. Thus, also, you may have a sense of the glory of heavenly things, as of God, and Christ, and holiness; and your heart be disposed and opened by holy love to God, and by the spirit of peace and love to men, to a sense of the excellence and sweetness of all that is to be found in heaven. Thus shall the windows of heaven be as it were opened, so that its glorious light shall shine in upon your soul. Thus you may have the evidence of your fitness for that blessed world, and that you are actually on the way to its possession. And being thus made meet, through grace, for the inheritance of the saints in light, when a few more days shall have passed away, you shall be with them in their blessedness forever. Happy, thrice happy those, who shall thus be found faithful to the end, and then shall be welcomed to the joy of their Lord! There “they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

The entire sermon is here: http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/charity16.htm 

May you be encouraged and blessed as you consider the significance of a life of Love.

Convicted to Change

"Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; 

but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."

 Jonathan Edwards

We all have things in our lives that give us problems. But in our selfish ways we're often oblivious to this until we are face to face with the problems these things cause and even then we may deny the problems until we reach a point where we're convicted that something has to change. That's where I am. For me it's that I have things that I absolutely do not need and they are getting in the way. Recently I've been very motivated to get rid of excess things around my home because my time has been wasted. Perhaps you can relate. Last week, I couldn't find something and I wasted hours searching for it because I had too many things to go through to find it and I still did not find it. Since then, almost daily, I've been wasting more time searching through things for this item, which is really crazy but even more convicting to me for I'm almost to the point where I'd accept a fire to destroy everything and then I could just start over! OK, that's getting extreme, but I'm just trying to emphasize how convicted I am to change. Jesus often reminds me:

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, 

where moth and rust destroy

 and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6: 19-29

I want more TIME. Time to spend on the important things which are the things that are pleasing and glorifying to my God, my Savior Jesus, the Lover of my soul. I thank Him for convicting me and bringing me to the point of extremity to change. I resolve to never lose one moment of time; but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

Perhaps God is convicting you to make changes in your life. It may be a change that will improve your health or something that will help you improve relationships with others. We all have areas in our lives that need improvement and many times the change needed seems impossible to accomplish but God can and does help us. Pray to Him, ask Him to help you, and trust that He will.