God Never Fails
If God is Love, and Love NEVER fails, then God NEVER fails. In our human condition, we doubt and fear and wonder sometimes where God is and when we’re going to hear from Him or see Him act. But the first part of 1 Corinthians 13:8 reminds us….
[8] Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
https://bible.com/bible/206/1co.13.8.WEBUS
Just as I did yesterday with switching words in Genesis from God to Love, now I’m going to switch the famous verses known for defining what love should be from Love (Charity in KJV) to God. You see, God knows our form and would never ask us to do anything He would not do. So….
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a CSB
[4] God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, [5] is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. [6] God finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. [7] God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8] God neverendsfails.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/1co.13.4-8.CSB
Line by line, we can see God’s personality in these behaviors Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to follow. From the garden until the end of time as we know it, and into eternity, God’s whole purpose is for us to walk with Him, side by side, obeying Him by imitating the behaviors He knows will bring blessings.
When we are patient (a fruit of The Spirit, so we get it directly from God), we bring peace to our lives and even our bodies. This message is to me as much as anyone because age seems to be making that harder for me. Maybe partly because of the many things there are to become impatient or irritable with these days (like AI customer service that won’t connect you to a living human). But I know I don’t like the way I feel when I get impatient, even if I have a good reason for it.
When we are kind, we can see God in our behaviors and note how it changes people. I try to make a habit of calling managers to compliment good service because I know they are overwhelmed with complaints. Years ago, I watched a manager lumber out to my vehicle at a Sonic when his employee sent him at our request. I could tell he was bracing for the worst. After sharing my gratefulness for the attentive and friendly server we had, it literally looked like he was a foot taller as he walked back to the restaurant standing up straight and smiling with confidence. The image is forever etched in my memory as an encouragement to bring that type of kindness whenever I can.
When we refuse to envy or be jealous or rude, we stop adding to the stress and chaos of a world with too many trying to survive without God and His attributes.
When we are careful not to be boastful or arrogant, we leave room for God to shine instead of us. We know that pride goes before destruction, and a stuck up (haughty) attitude before a fall, so we save ourselves from those disasters as well. Remember the letters in EGO can stand for “Edging God Out.”
On the “not self-seeking” line, I found a lot of different wording, including that love does not seek its own way. When I switched that one to God, I was like, “Wait a minute. God does seek His own way and His will because He sees the future and knows what’s right.” So, in His case, seeking His way is not a bad thing. But also, being self-seeking is more like ONLY thinking of yourself. We all know people who don’t seem able to see how their behaviors affect others but can always see how others affect them. Without natural empathy, those are the ones whose love (Godliness) is turning cold as a result of sin.
When King David thought about God’s choice to not hold his record of sins against him, he said that God had separated his (and our) sins as far as the East is separated from the West. Real love covers a multitude of sins. It may seem like a “get out of jail free” card, but it’s definitely not a “keep on doing what got you into bondage in the first place” license. Just like we want people to be grateful enough for our forgiveness to not harm us again, God wants us to be grateful enough to keep ourselves free from the sinful entanglements He broke away from us. And all this is because God finds no joy in unrighteousness but He does rejoice in truth because truth sets us free. Let’s make God smile today.
Finally, God bears, believes, hopes, and endures because He sees a future we cannot even imagine. His Word says it hasn’t even entered into our hearts what He has prepared, but it also says He has hidden eternity in our hearts. He promised Israel that He had plans for their hope and a future. Through the blood of YahShua, we have become Abraham’s seed and heir to those great and precious promises. God (Love) NEVER fails.
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Love Created the Heavens and….
1 John 4:16 WEBUS
[16] We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
https://bible.com/bible/206/1jn.4.16.WEBUS
For the month of February, I’m going to take a hint from Hallmark and do my own version of Love-uary with the focus on God’s love. To start it out right, I thought it would be interesting to see how some of the items in the first chapter of Genesis read when we substitute the word love wherever it normally has the word God. I think the message is deep and soul-stirring.
So here is Genesis 1:1-2, 4-5, 14-18, 27-28, 31 KJV with the replacements (no italics or full caps, just read it normally to catch the nuance):
[1] In the beginning Love created the heaven and the earth. [2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Love moved upon the face of the waters.
[4] And Love saw the light, that it was good: and Love divided the light from the darkness. [5] And Love called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
[14] And Love said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [15] and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. [16] And Love made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. [17] And Love set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, [18] and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and Love saw that it was good.
[27] So Love created man in his own image, in the image of Love created he him; male and female created he them. [28] And Love blessed them, and Love said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
[31] And Love saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
https://bible.com/bible/1/gen.1.1-31.KJV
So what do you think, readers? I really like the statements like “Love created man in His image” and “Love saw that it was good.”
Because God is Love, whenever we read anything about God, love is the descriptor even when we do not understand. And whenever we talk about love, it should be in ways that represent God fully and completely. All love is not love, as the commercial campaign once said. A mother’s love due a child is different than a friend’s love for a friend, and both are different than romantic love between a man and woman. Some forms of love are not love at all but merely mankind’s desire for how he thinks love should be defined, like a child who says a parent who won’t let them do whatever they want doesn’t love them. But true love can always be defined as God and, far more than a feeling, true love is powerful enough to design and create a universe and everything in it. Do you know LOVE?
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God’s Presence Changes Everything!
Fullness of Joy by Adam Ranck at Flickr…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aranck/12436534373
CC License Attribution, Non-commercial
Stress! Anxiety! Who will win the election? Who are my friends and loved ones voting for? Who should a Christian support? Surely, every candidate supports something with which God Himself will find fault, so what’s a Christian to do?
If your answer is PRAY, you are absolutely right, but that is only the beginning. Then, we must question what to pray for. Do we pray for a specific outcome? Do we ask God who to vote for and then hope we hear His answer correctly? Of course, we can pray those things, but there’s still anxiety in them, and God’s word tells us to be anxious for nothing. So, what can we pray that will remove our anxieties when there is so much of our future at stake?
Pray for the presence of God!
I’ll say it again…PRAY FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
Remember the promises that come with praying for God’s presence, and you will see that a prayer for His presence is enough for EVERY situation–including every political outcome. If His presence is in the voting booth, it can guide voters to the best decision. If His presence is in the high places (like the White House and campaign headquarters), it can drive out the spiritual wickedness that dwells in high places. If His presence shows up where there has been deceit, it can spur the revelations that will cause hidden sins to be found out. We need God’s presence to bring balance and truth throughout this nation.
Some of God’s presence promises include…
- In His presence, there is love.
- In His presence, we have Life.
- In His presence, there is fullness of joy.
- In His presence, we have light.
- In His presence, we have comfort.
- In His presence, there is grace and truth.
- In His presence, there is rest.
- In His presence, we have peace.
- In His presence, we have refuge and a shelter.
- In His presence, we have salvation.
- In His presence, we have a home (now and for eternity).
So, like a little light can drive out darkness, even a little of God’s presence can drive out those things which cause us anxiety, including the turmoil about this election and all that is involved with it. The more of us who pray for God’s presence, the more of His presence will be there–and we then have a great amount of Light to change the atmosphere.
Please, join me not only on election day but always to pray for God’s presence. For elections, pray for God to be in every voting booth, at every polling place, in every government seat and building, in every campaign gathering and headquarters, with every voter, and with every candidate. After elections, and as all the candidates swear their allegiance to our Constitution and the nation, states, and cities they will represent, may the presence of God go with each and every one of them to lead them in their duties and in their personal lives as well.
God’s presence will bring light where there is darkness, truth where there are lies, justice where there is imbalance, and peace where there is strife. There can be no greater prayer for today or for our future than to pray for Him and His presence to be poured out and to fill every aspect of our nation, our world, and our lives.
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A Covenant God
The reading for today is all in Genesis 9 and is a very short set of verses from 8 through 17. Noah, his family, and the animals are off the boat. Noah has offered the first sacrifice to show his thankfulness for their salvation. And now, with this family ready to replenish the earth, God has made a promise, and he has given a sign for that promise that we still see today; the rainbow.
I downloaded an image I really like by rwangsa at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwangsa/452128709/)…
You know, there are many gods out there that people try to please with various works, but most of them are just trying to get those gods to carry them to an eternal paradise. They will give it all for a promise that may or may not be true. But our God and Creator, Yahveh Almighty, has promised us so much more than an eternity in paradise. He has plans so awesome that He says they haven’t even found a way to enter into our thoughts or imaginations.
I was talking with a friend today, and we were discussing what we have with God that so many others do not have with their gods. The greatest thing we have of course is His Love. It’s not just an end game, but a gift He desires to shower on us in every moment. He wants us to trust Him so much that you will see many covenants He makes with His people throughout Scripture. This covenant in today’s reading is not only a promise, but a promise that comes with a sign both to us and to Him. He says that when we see it, we can remember His promise to us. And He says that whenever He brings clouds upon the earth, He Himself will see the sign and remember His promises. It’s like two best friends that tie a string around each others’ wrists or pinky fingers to remind the other that they will be best friends forever. God is our best Friend, a covenant Friend and a covenant God, who will be there for us…forever! Hallelu-Yah!!!
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Love Covers A Multitude of Sin
Today’s reading from Genesis 9:18 through Genesis 10:32 is a bit longer, and it is so because it’s another chapter that covers a bunch of genealogy. This time, it’s the genealogies from the sons of Noah from whom the entire earth was repopulated after the flood. But before it gets into the genealogies, this chapter tells a story of excess, drunkenness, and disrespectful behavior.
Noah was a farmer, so after getting off the boat, he planted a vineyard. From the fruit of his labors, he drank a bit too much wine (it is easy to go overboard when you have gone without something for a very long time) and passed out in his tent. I’m guessing his robes came undone, or the wine made him warm, and he stripped them off, but for whatever reason, he was laying there completely naked. What happened next changed the future of many people groups.
Noah’s youngest son, Ham, happened by his father’s tent. Instead of backing out and respecting him, he ran to tell his brothers all about it. Now remember, the sons who entered the ark were married men and their wives, so this was a full-grown married man running off to make fun of his father to other full-grown married men. I think there is likely much more to the story, but here’s what I see: The states of mind before the flood were not only lacking any direction toward God, but they were so selfish, they were immature. Learning to care for others instead of just yourself takes time and maturity, so selfish people often act childish by being demanding, having temper tantrums, and/or being just plain silly. I think Ham came on board with the mindset of those who had just been destroyed. Maybe all but Noah boarded that way, but I believe Ham “missed the boat” mentally and emotionally when he did not learn a lesson by watching the end result of that evil behavior. And that childish behavior caused problems from his son, Canaan, on down the line because Ham did not create a legacy of maturity and obedience that could be taught through the generations.
As with all of God’s stories though, there is always some good news to find. In this case, it was the two older brothers who walked backward with a blanket and covered their father’s nakedness instead of making fun of him. Were they mature because they were older, or had they matured as a result of the last year and the lesson learned from the destruction of mankind? It’s hard to tell, but in a literal way, they fulfilled Proverbs 10:12 where it says, “Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions” (Amplified Bible). The immature son disrespected his father, and hated him enough to try to stir things up against him in the hearts of his brothers. But his brothers loved their father and chose instead to cover his transgressions. I also like the way this is stated in 1 Peter 4:8 (Amp)….”Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].”
We have a Savior who feels love toward us, so when given the choice to mock our sins and put them on public display for punishment, He chose instead to cover us–with His own body and blood. He took the public display, the mocking, and the punishment on Himself. And because mercy and love is more powerful than punishment and hate, we have the promise that His love covers our sins, not only unto the third and fourth generation (as it is with those who hate God), but unto thousands of generations of those that love God and keep His commandments. (See Exodus 20:6).
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October 10, 2013 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Bible, Bible study, Canaan, Complete Jewish Bible, cover, covering, covers, crystalwriter, disrespect, drunkenness, Genesis, Genesis 10, Genesis 9, God, God is Love, Ham, immaturity, Lord, love, love covering, love covers a multitude of sin, love covers sin, love has mercy, maturity, mercy, nakedness, Noah, Old Testament, Proverbs, punishment, Savior, Scripture, sin, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, wine, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, Yahveh, Yahweh | Leave a comment