Love God

Love That Can Change The World

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“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:7-12 NIV

Jesus came down from heaven and sacrificed Himself on the Cross

He did it for you…He did it because He loves you and wants a relationship with you!

Give thanks to Him, chose to love God and love others

This is what God wants us to do.

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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Colossians 3:12-14 NIV

(This photo was taken at the Nakalele Blowhole on the island of Maui, Hawaii)

How We Treat Each Other

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“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12 NIV

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.“

John 15:12-13 NIV

You will get what you give in this life

God’s Word gives clear instructions and Jesus lived the example we can follow

Love and serve one another

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV

(This photo was taken at St. Croix State Park in northern Minnesota)

Love Conquers All

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“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

1 Peter 4:8 NIV

The actions of love can and will conquer all things in life

How do we know this is true?

Because of scripture

“…because, God is love.”

1 John 4:8 NIV

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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

(This photo was taken while traveling in South Dakota)

Advent Reflections – Love

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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

Jesus stated the most important commandments are to love God and love one another – Matthew 22:37-40

So, what is love?

Love is action…it is not what the world defines as a feeling

The apostle Paul describes it for us in 1 Corinthians 13

It is about our character and what we do when it comes to relationships

So, when Jesus states it is the most important commandment…we should think about how do we love God?  How do we love one another?

Love is for God to define and to give and He makes it available to all of us by how He has acted towards us

It is up to us to accept His love and to share it with Him and others

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“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:7-12 NIV

(This photo was taken at the Nakalele Blowhole on the island of Maui, Hawaii)

 

Humility…Patience

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“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.“

Ephesians 4:1-2 NIV

Character and attitude shown by how we treat each other in our daily lives

Our attitude and character are the things that show what we believe

Love is demostrated by actions

Learn from the example that Jesus provided in His life, death and resurrection

Live out your faith through your attitude and by how you treat others in daily life

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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Colossians 3:12-14 NIV

(This photo was taken while traveling in northern Colorado)

Amazing Love

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“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:6-8 NIV

You Are My King (Amazing Love) by Newsboys

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“God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.“

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

To Know Him vs To Know About Him

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“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:7-8 NIV

Each of us needs to ask ourselves…Do I truly know Jesus or do I just know about Him?

There is a significant difference. To know that He lived and the things that He did and even the things He said is to know about Him

To know Him is to meet with Him daily and communicate with Him all the time

To know Him is to ask Him questions and express your true feelings to Him

To know Him is to do what He did in your relationships with others

To know Him is to take up your cross and follow Him

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“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 

Matthew 16:24-24 NIV

(This photo was taken along the North Shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota)

Give Thanks…His Love Endures Forever

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“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.“

Psalm 100:1-3 NIV

Take time to reflect on your life and remember what God has done for you

Think about the storms you have already come through…how He protected you or guided you safely

Remember that no matter what happens, God loves you…He is with you and He is within you

Jesus left the glory of heaven to come down and live as one of us

He sacrificed Himself to be beaten and crucified and to pay the penalty for our sin so that we could have a relationship with God

God will do for you that which you cannot do for yourself

Put your trust in the Lord and give thanks to Him…His Love Endures Forever

Forever by Michael W Smith

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“Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.“

Psalm 100:4-5 NIV

(This photo was taken while traveling in northern Colorado)

God Is Love

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“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:8 NIV

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:11 NIV

It has been said that in order for people to receive and understand a message they must see/hear it a minimum of three times

May these verses and the words below help each of us to know and understand…

GOD is Love

God IS Love

God is LOVE

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“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

1 John 4:16-21 NIV

(This photo was taken in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

Humility In Relationships

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“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”[a]

1 Peter 5:5 NIV

Father God, You invite me into a peaceful relationship with You where I can be fully known and loved.  You also invite me to pursue peace with others around me.  Please help me to appraoch my relationships with humility, grace and wisdom.  Grant me knowledge to recognize when I should speak and when I should listen as I pursue peace.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Philippians 2:1-4 NIV

(This photo was taken at the High Falls in Tettegouche State Park in northern Minnesota)