Saturday, February 25, 2017

Scripture Reading:


(please explain what love this scripture is referring to) (Ephesians 5:33)

 

"Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

 

This is the erose love we talked about earlier in week # 2. This love is between a husband and a wife. This love is what gets many people, even Christians, into serious trouble because they can commit adultery if left unchecked and not resisted, they can commit adultery of the heart (Matt 5:28), it can lead to an addiction to pornography, and it can become an idol in itself. While this level of love is necessary and healthy within marriage, outside or before marriage it can be totally destructive.

GOOD READING:

Weekly Reading Assignments: I Corinthians 13

 

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

This Week's Word:

Week  # 5 Word.  

 

Ludus:        Wordly Love:

 

Ludus is playful or uncommitted love. It can involve activities such as teasing and dancing, or more overt flirting, seducing, and conjugating. The focus is on fun, and sometimes on conquest, with no strings attached. Ludus relationships are casual, undemanding, and uncomplicated but, for all that, can be very long-lasting. Ludus works best when both parties are self-sufficient. Problems arise when one party mistakes ludus for eros, whereas ludus is in fact much more compatible with philia.

ANSWERS:


Week # 5     Study Questions:

  1. When you think of God's love, what do you sense or feel?

    Now when I think about God's love I feel so good inside; I feel the joy God intended for us to feel here on this earth. Yes, thing will change when this old body change, but right now it's a very good feeling; a feeling of secure, loved, belonging, accepted, and complete. Glory to God! I don't put my trust in my feelings, but when I think of my Savior's love for me. It's a very good feeling.
     
  2. What is the focus of God's love? 

    The focus of God's love is redemption. God's unconditional and intense love for fallen humanity motivated the plan of salvation (Revelation 1:5). Simply, salvation is God making us whole or complete       
         
  3. What is the goal of God's love?

    The Goal of God's Love is Relationship. God had a relationship with Adam and Eve, and He desires to have one with each one of His creation.

    To know Him intimately is to open the door for revelation and fulfillment. It brings change or transformation-change of essence, expression, behavior, desires, identity, and security. The bond is so strong that God says a nursing mother may abandon her child, but He will never abandon us (Isaiah 49:15-16). He becomes the ultimate Father! What an encouraging word to the heart!!!

  1. Week # 5     Quiz:      

True or False?


Jesus said that anyone who simply acknowledges Him as Lord and Savior will find favor with God.

 True

Week # 5 Sharing Point

God Wrote His love in Red:

 

According to Jesus, the ultimate definition of love is to lay down one's life for a friend (John 15:13). Jesus did that when He willingly allowed Himself to be killed on a cross in our place. He died and shed His blood for our sins, God loved the world so much that He was willing for His Son's blood to be shed that we might be saved (John 3:16).

This Week’s Prayer:


Father God, I come into your presence so aware of my human frailty and yet overwhelmed by your love for me. I thank you that there is no human experience that I might walk through where your love cannot reach me. If I climb the highest mountain you are there and yet if I find myself in the darkest valley of my life, you are there. Teach me today to love you more. Help me to rest in that love that asks nothing more than the simple trusting heart of a child. Father, as we study on You love bless us to remember that You first loved us. Give us this day our daily bread as we study this lesson on love. We praise and thank You for all You have done for us. Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be accepted in You sight O Lord, our help and our strength. In Jesus name, Amen

HALLELUJAH

Good question!!!

 

Do you see God's unconditional love in your life today?

Bible Study: “God’s Love” Week # 5

Subject:      The Unconditional Love of God


Beginning Prayer:

 

Father God, I come into your presence so aware of my human frailty and yet overwhelmed by your love for me. I thank you that there is no human experience that I might walk through where your love cannot reach me. If I climb the highest mountain you are there and yet if I find myself in the darkest valley of my life, you are there. Teach me today to love you more. Help me to rest in that love that asks nothing more than the simple trusting heart of a child. Father, as we study on You love bless us to remember that You first loved us. Give us this day our daily bread as we study this lesson on love. We praise and thank You for all You have done for us. Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be accepted in You sight O Lord, our help and our strength. In Jesus name, Amen

 

A pair of hands methodically began to scoop up the loose ground, moving it into a pile. When a sufficient amount of earth had been placed in the pile, the hands began to move the earth around swiftly. The earth began to take a shape unseen before. When the earth had been fashioned into the desired form, the Creator bent down, looked approvingly at the shape and placed His mouth over the earthen lips of the form. He breathed, forcing air into the earthen vessel He had fashioned. Suddenly, miraculously, the form responded to the breath and sprang to life. Adam was aware that he was the culmination and climax of creation and that the Creator had just formed a special bond with him-a relationship of love (see Genesis 2:7).

The Very Nature of God is Love:

Volumes have been written about the characteristics of God, but when it is distilled to the most basic categories, He is love (1 John 4:8), life (Jeremiah 10:10; Revelation 22), and holiness (Psalms 99:9). And in reality, His life and holiness are based upon and are an expression of His love: love gives, so He gives life; love desires the best, so holiness proceeds from Him.

Love is not something he chooses to do or give. It is the very essence of who He is. He doesn't just love-He is love (1 John 4:16). It motivates His every action, directs His activities, and reflects His desires (John 4:10) . Love is the greatest and purest essence of who a person is and its proper expression brings fulfillment.

However, God's love is not like the love expressed by many in our culture today: a love of convenience and ego. That is, "I will love you as long as you add value to my life and please me. When that ceases, so does my love for you." For many, love is conditional. The conditions may be different depending upon the relationship, but there are still conditions to be met in order to "earn" our love.

William Bennett, former Secretary of Education and author of The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (1993); once said that he attended a wedding where the vows had been changed to reflect this love of convenience. He decided to send a gift to the couple that reflected their commitment to the marriage-a package of paper plates! He said he figured the package would last as long as the marriage.

This attitude stands in stark contrast to God's unconditional love, which never fails  (Psalms 52:8), endures forever (Psalms 106:1), is uncalculating ( Proverbs 30:5), and not motivated by personal gain (1 John 3:16). Unconditional love does not mean that God loves everything we do, but rather His love is so intense that He loves every sinner, no matter how vile and despicable he or she may be in the eyes of humanity, so much that He provides a way for them to find love, life, and holiness (John 3:16). "Intense love does not measure, it just gives" (Mother Teresa).

The Focus of God's Love is Redemption:

Daily, Adam and Eve walked with God, until the desire for pleasure overcame their love for God (see Genesis 3). This break in the relationship required redemption.

God's love (and our own!) is not an abstract ideal, but a concrete reality that finds expression. Love that is not expressed through the giving of self, practical action and sacrifice is not love. Love must meet the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of those loved. It is costly, brings vulnerability, and seeks the person's highest good (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

God's unconditional and intense love for fallen humanity motivated the plan of salvation (Revelation 1:5). Simply, salvation is God making us whole or complete. It is a healing of the soul, bringing us back to the state of Adam when God breathed life into him and made him a living soul. Separation from God, caused by sin, is separation from life. A person might have biological life, but not the quality of life God envisions for us.

A few years ago I encountered Marc, a house painter. He promptly told me that he knew I was a preacher, but he didn't have much for Christians or preachers because of some bad experiences. I quickly prayed for wisdom and said, "Marc, Christians are a lot like painters. Not everyone who claims to be one is. Of those who are, some are better than others. And even the best make mistakes." He paused and replied, "I've never thought about it like that." Our friendship continued to develop. One day, he called to tell me that he and his wife had given their hearts to the Lord. He was amazed that he felt so alive and free. God's love brings cleansing, freedom, and wholeness. True love is liberating, not restrictive. This does not give us a license to sin, but the freedom to serve God completely, motivated by love, and empowered by the Spirit.

God's love motivates His compassion and mercy (love in action). His love brings transformation. Usually at baptism, the minister will quote from  Matthew 28:19 and baptize the person "in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." We clap, raise our hands, and miss the truth of the event. It is more than a public expression of one's faith. At baptism, we are baptized (immersed) into the very character of the Father (love), the character of the Son (grace), and the character of the Holy Spirit (fellowship; see (2 Corinthians 13:13).

Salvation is based on God's fervent love and mercy, not our worthiness (Titus 3:4-5). One response (in the image of Jesus Christ's offering on the Cross) is that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God (Rom 12:1).

The Goal of God's Love is Relationship:

Love requires relationship, as love is a dynamic force or presence that naturally seeks expression. Simply put, love loves! And in order to do that there must be an object of that love or it is incomplete.

God's love is revealed in that He created us in His own image (a position of responsibility before God) and likeness (moral freedom); (Genesis 1:26-27; Job 33:4). Part of that image/likeness is freedom of choice. We can choose to accept and embrace God's love or we can choose to ignore or reject it. We were formed from dust, but because of God's great love for us, we received the breath of God, with its intrinsic and inherent life. This life gives us the capacity and desire to be in relationship (understanding; self-awareness; communicative; ability to have fellowship) and to love in return. To live in God is to live in love (1 John 4:16).

Our relationship with God is an intimate one. There is a sacred knowledge and expression that takes place. To know Him intimately is to open the door for revelation and fulfillment. It brings change or transformation-change of essence, expression, behavior, desires, identity, and security. The bond is so strong that God says a nursing mother may abandon her child, but He will never abandon us (Isaiah 49:15-16). He becomes the ultimate Father!

When we reflect upon the intensity of our relationship with God, self-doubt often arises. Can we keep our end of the bargain? Of great comfort (and a pressing challenge) is the thought that our relationship with God is not the sum of our activity directed toward God, but the intensity of our relationship with God as expressed through our devotion to him, our obedience to his wishes, and our attitudes toward his will and best desires for us. He loved us first, enabling us to respond properly to His love (1 John 4:10-11). And His love (and ability) never fails.

A young student asked Karl Barth to share the most significant theological truth he had discovered in all of his years of study. Barth, one of the most prolific theologians of the 20th century, wrote approximately sixty volumes of commentaries and theological studies. This brilliant man that many call the most important theologian of modern times thought for a moment, smiled, and said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Nothing-absolutely nothing-can separate us from God's love (Romans 8:35-39).

God's Love:

Everyone wants to be cherished. But human devotion isn't always dependable. Even the most stable relationships change over time, according to how the lovers feel, the way they treat each other, and whether life is stressful or not.

We can be thankful that God's love is quite different. Let's look at a few principles that describe His amazing affection for people.

 

1. God's love is intrinsic to His nature. First John tells us God is the source of love  (1 John 4:7). It also reveals that love is not only one of the Creator's fundamental character traits—He is love in His very being (1 John 4:8).

When you think of the Lord, do you picture Him as loving? Explain.

Contrary to the world's mindset, the fact that "God is love" does not mean He "winks at" or excuses sin (Romans 6:23).  However, He forgives us if we are humble enough to ask.

2. God's love is universal. He has compassion on both believers and unbelievers.

While on earth, Jesus perfectly illustrated the Father's nature and character. One surprising fact is that He befriended "tax collectors and sinners" (Luke 7:34). These two groups of people were despised and avoided by godly Jews of Jesus' day. Why? Tax collectors often exploited their fellow countrymen by requiring more payment than was actually due to Rome. "Sinners" were those who scoffed at God's law, failed to participate in temple rituals, and/or made money by sinful means. Jesus didn't just preach to these people—He actually enjoyed their company ... and they enjoyed His.

According to (John 3:16), what motivated God to send Jesus to earth?

Has God given you a love for those who don't yet know Him? If not, ask Him to fill you with a genuine love for them and to show you how to share His love.

3. God's love is unconditional. Unlike earthly affection, His love doesn't fluctuate. The Father doesn't care for us more when we have pleased Him or less when we have failed or sinned.

After a period of spiritual dryness, do you have less confidence that God will answer your prayers because you don't "deserve" His blessing?  Do you believe your performance makes the Father love you more? Explain.

What encouragement does (Romans 5:8) offer to those who feel God loves them less when they fail?

4. God's love is sacrificial. Jesus Christ surrendered His life on the cross so that we might have eternal life and enjoy fellowship with God while we are still living on earth. Jesus' motivation was love for mankind. (John 15:13) teaches, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." What was Jesus trying to tell His disciples?

How does our Savior's description of love contrast with the world's?

How does the concept of sacrificial love encourage you to relate differently to those you love the most?

5. God's love is contagious. When we walk in close fellowship with Christ, God's love flows through us to those around us. The Holy Spirit fills us so we can extend unconditional love to others (Romans 5:5).

"The one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 John 4:16). What do you think it means to "abide in love?"

Does this phrase describe you? Why or why not?

First Peter 4:8 says, "Keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."

What do you think it means to "cover" someone's sin with love?

Far from excusing a person's sin or pretending it doesn't exist, covering another person's wrongdoing with love means we show mercy, speak the truth, and forgive so that the sinner will be healed, much like a nurse tenderly bandages a wound.

What are some of the benefits of love "covering the sins" of your family, co-workers, or fellow church members?  What wrongdoing of another could you cover in love this week?

6. God's love is motivating. When we learn to set our minds on God's affection, we have a greater ability to overcome sin. Instead of indulging fleshly desires, we allow His Spirit to guide us  (Romans 8:5).

Sin is often an attempt to meet legitimate needs apart from God. This means at the root of almost every transgression is a genuine need for comfort, peace, acceptance, approval, love, and so forth.

Think about one of your habitual sins. What needs do you attempt to fulfill through this particular sin?

 

Ask God to show you how to let His love satisfy those needs in a healthy way. (If the desire cannot be met legitimately, ask Him to remove the ungodly urge completely. He may not remove it immediately, however, if He wants to help you learn humility and dependence upon Him to resist temptation.)

Sometimes we make excuses for our sin, saying things such as "I'm under a lot of pressure right now, and I just couldn't help it." What doe (Romans 8:35-37) say about the power of Christ's love?

 

Prayer: Father, thank You for the amazing love You extend to me. Forgive me for not believing the truth about who You are. I pray for a life-transforming revelation of Your affection for me so that I might relate to You and others in a fresh way. Amen.

 

Read verses:

 

These scriptures provide guidance on topics relating to love such as; relationships, marriage, family, children, strength, and love of others. The Bible says that God is love, which makes it the perfect source to learn how to love others, even those who are difficult for us to. Our world has skewed the meaning of true love but God's Word remains a steadfast, true source of knowledge on how to love. Read the below scripture from the Holy Bible about love in relation to God, Jesus Christ, and the Christian faith and begin seeing the change in your heart and mind!

 

 

Scripture Reading: (please explain what love this scripture is referring too) (Ephesians 5:33)

"Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

 

 

Week # 5     Weekly Word:       Ludus

 

Study Questions:

1.       When you think of God's love, what do you sense or feel?

2.       What is the focus of God's love?                         

3.       What is the goal of God's love?

 

Quiz:

True or False? Jesus said that anyone who simply acknowledges Him as Lord and Savior will find favor with God.

 True

 False

 

Weekly Reading Assignments: I Corinthians 13

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

GOOD SCRIPTURE:

I have read my weekly scripture!

 

You never can read it too much, I also read love scriptures too. Glory to God!

READ ME

Weekly Reading Assignments:  I Corinthians 13

 

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Week # 4 Study Questions:


  1. How does this love enter into your life?

    It becomes yours the moment you receive Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit comes to indwell your life. The Scripture says, "We feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." God is Spirit and the "fruit of the Spirit is love..."
     
  2. In this study it's explained that each of these descriptions of love is not an expression of the emotions, but what are they?

    I believe it's of the will, and choice that God has given us. I have found myself in a situation that I just had to make up my mind to love that person no matter what. I made that decision because of what God had placed in me. The Spirit of God help us to love as we obey Him, amen.
                      
  3. Explain some of the greatest things that happen when you discover God's supernatural love. 

    This is good!  "Whites who have hated blacks and blacks who have hated whites have discovered God's supernatural love for each other. Christian husbands and wives who were living in conflict have claimed God's love by faith, and miracles have resulted. Parent-child struggles have been resolved and generation gaps have been bridged through loving by faith. Disputes in working situations have been resolved. Enemies cease to be enemies when you love them by faith. God's love has a way of dissolving prejudice and breaking down barriers."

    Week # 4     Quiz:
     
  1. Which of these is NOT one of Jesus' teachings about love for God the Father?

    Above all else, observe the letter of the law in religious matters.

SHARING

Week # 4     Weekly Word:       Storge

 

Storge

Storge ('store-gae'), or familial love, is a kind of philia pertaining to the love between parents and their children. It differs from most philia in that it tends, especially with younger children, to be unilateral or asymmetrical. More broadly, storge is the fondness born out of familiarity or dependency and, unlike eros or philia, does not hang on our personal qualities. People in the early stages of a romantic relationship often expect unconditional storge, but find only eros, and, if they are lucky, philia. Over time, eros often mutates into storge and, if we are lucky, there is philia and pragma (see below) as well.

 

Storge Love

This is the type of family love that is commonly found in the Bible and is vital to the proper function of families and can sometimes be found in extended families. This is the type of love found in Martha and Mary who lost their brother Lazarus. It is the type of love that Abraham had for his son Jacob, the kind that Noah had for his wife and children, and the same kind of love that any father and mother has for their children as well as the children's love for their parents. Storge love can also occur between a husband and a wife. It appears to be the same type of love that animal parents seem to display for their young. Storge is a Greek word (στοργή) for family love and frequently used for natural affection.

Week # 4 Scripture Reading:

 

(please explain what love this scripture is referring to) (Romans 12:9)

 

"Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good."

 

This is the love for a brother and a sister; Apostle Paul was encouraging all brother and sister love one another as God has commanded us too.

SHARING:

God's Love Never Quits:

 

God is eternal (Deuteronomy 33:27) and God is love. Therefore, God's love is eternal. There is no beginning and no end to God and His love. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39) Regardless of how "unloving" life's circumstances may seem, God's children are continually enveloped by His love.

This Week’s Prayer:

Lord, thank you for your greatness. Thank you that when I am weak, you are strong. Lord, the Devil is scheming and I know he desires to keep me and all Your people from spending time with you. Don't let him win! Give us a measure of your strength so that we might not give into discouragement, deception and doubt! Help us honor you in all our ways. We are asking for love through faith in You, show us how to walk in that love. When people do us wrong, turn our hearts toward you, Lord that we may love with God's kind of love. Help us to experience Your love in this life, Lord. We thank You and praise You too. In Jesus' Name, we pray, AMEN.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Bible Study: “God’s Love” Week # 4

Subject:      Truths about Love: You Can Love with God's Love by Faith

        

Beginning Prayer:

 

Lord, thank you for your greatness. Thank you that when I am weak, you are strong. Lord, the Devil is scheming and I know he desires to keep me and all Your people from spending time with you. Don't let him win! Give us a measure of your strength so that we might not give into discouragement, deception and doubt! Help us honor you in all our ways. We are asking for love through faith in You, show us how to walk in that love. When people do us wrong, turn our hearts toward you, Lord that we may love with God's kind of love. Help us to experience Your love in this life, Lord. We thank You and praise You too. In Jesus' Name, we pray, AMEN.

 

The impossible can become reality in the hardest of relationships.

 

You Can Love With God's Love

 

It was God's kind of love that brought you to Christ. It is this kind of love that is able to sustain and encourage you each day. Through His love in you, you can bring others to Christ and minister to fellow believers as God has commanded.

God's love was supremely expressed in the life of Jesus Christ. You have a perfect, complete picture of God's kind of love in the birth, character, teachings, life, death and resurrection of His Son.

How does this love enter your life? It becomes yours the moment you receive Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit comes to indwell your life. The Scripture says, "We feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." God is Spirit and the "fruit of the Spirit is love..." When you are controlled by the Spirit, you can love with God's love.

When Christ comes into your life and you become a Christian, God gives you the resources to be a different kind of person. With the motivation, He also gives you the ability. He provides you with a new kind of love.

But how do you make love a practical reality in your life? How do you love? By resolutions? By self-imposed discipline? No. The only way to love is explained in my final point.

You Love By Faith:

Everything about the Christian life is based on faith. You love by faith just as you received Christ by faith, just as you are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith, and just as you walk by faith.

If the fruit of the Spirit is love, you may logically ask, "Is it not enough to be filled with the Spirit?" This will be true from God's point of view, but it will not always be true in your actual experience.

Demonstrating God's Love Requires Faith:

Many Christians have loved with God's love and have demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit in their lives without consciously or specifically claiming His love by faith. Yet, without being aware of the fact, they were indeed loving by faith; therefore, they did not find it necessary to claim God's love by faith as a specific act.

Hebrews 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Obviously there will be no demonstration of God's love where there is no faith.

If you have difficulty in loving others, remember that Jesus has commanded, "Love each other as much as I love you." It is God's will for you to love. He would not command you to do something that He will not enable you to do. In 1 John 5:14, 15, God promises that if you ask anything according to His will, He hears and answers you. Relating this promise to God's command, you can claim by faith the privilege of loving with His love.

God has an unending supply of His divine, supernatural, agape love for you. It is for you to claim, to grow on, to spread to others, and thus to reach hundreds and thousands with the love that counts, the love that will bring them to Jesus Christ.

In order to experience and share this love, you must claim it by faith; that is, trust His promise that He will give you all that you need to do His will on the basis of His command and promise.

This truth is not new. It has been recorded in God's Word for two thousand years. But it was a new discovery to me that early morning some years ago and, since that time, to many thousands of other Christians with whom I have shared it. When I began to practice loving by faith, I found that problems of tension with other individuals seemed to disappear, often miraculously.

In one instance, I was having a problem loving a fellow staff member. It troubled me. I wanted to love him. I knew that I was commanded to love him; yet, because of certain areas of inconsistency and personality differences, it was difficult for me to love him. But the Lord reminded me of 1 Peter 5:7, "Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you." I decided to give this problem to Him and love this man by faith. When I claimed God's love for the man by faith, my concern lifted. I knew the matter was in God's hands.

An hour later, I found under my door a letter from that very man, who had no possible way of knowing what I had just experienced. In fact, his letter had been written the day before. The Lord has foreseen the change in me. This friend and I met together that afternoon and had the most wonderful time of prayer and fellowship we had ever experienced together. Loving with God's love by faith had changed our relationship.

Two Attorneys Turn from Hate to Love:

Two gifted attorneys had great professional animosity, even hatred one for the other. Even though they were distinguished members of the same firm, they were constantly criticizing and making life miserable for each other.

One of the men received Christ through our ministry and some months later came for counsel.

"I have hated and criticized my partner for years," he said, "and he has been equally antagonistic toward me. But now that I am a Christian, I don't feel right about continuing our warfare. What shall I do?

"Why not ask your partner to forgive you and tell him that you love him?" I suggested.

"I could never do that!" he exclaimed. "That would be hypocritical. I don't love him. How could I tell him I love him when I don't?"

I explained that God commands His children to love even their enemies and that His agape, supernatural, unconditional love is an expression of our will which we exercise by faith.

 

For example, the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love is: ... very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.

 

"You will note," I explained, "that each of these descriptions of love is not an expression of the emotions, but of the will."

Together we knelt to pray and my friend asked God's forgiveness for his critical attitude toward his law partner and claimed God's love for him by faith.

Early the next morning, my friend walked into his partner's office and announced, "Something wonderful has happened to me. I have become a Christian. And I have come to ask you to forgive me for all that I have done to hurt you in the past and to tell you that I love you."

His partner was so surprised and convicted of his own sin that he responded to this amazing confession by asking my friend to forgive him. Then to my friend's surprise, his partner said, "I would like to become a Christian, too. Would you show me what I need to do?" After my friend showed him how through the (Four Spiritual Laws), they knelt together to pray. Then they both came to tell me of this marvelous miracle of God's love.

Other Relationships Changed by Love:

A special assistant to a former governor of California once visited our headquarters at Arrowhead Springs, and during his visit he received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He began to discover how to love by faith. Recently his son had left home after they had had an argument. Contemplating the problem, this new Christian realized that he had never told his son that he loved him. On his way home from Arrowhead Springs, he asked the Lord to bring his son home so that he could make things right. He wanted to express his love for him. As he neared his home, his heart quickened. The upstairs light was on indicating that the son had come home! Soon, father and son embraced, became reconciled, and established a new relationship founded on God's forgiving love.

A young college football player, who had been raised in a community where blacks are resented, had always found it impossible to love blacks. One evening he heard me talk to a group of racially mixed students about loving by faith, especially in reference to loving those of other races.

"As you prayed," he told me later, "I claimed God's love for the black man. Then, as I left the amphitheater, the first person I saw was a black man, and he was talking to a white girl. Now that is about as explosive a situation as you can imagine for a man who hates blacks. But suddenly I felt a compassion for that black man! At one time, I would have hated him and probably would have been rude and angry with him. But God heard my prayer."

That same evening a young black couple approached me in the lobby of the Arrowhead Springs hotel. They were radiant.

"Something wonderful happened to me tonight," the young woman said. I was liberated from my hatred for the white man. I have hated whites since I was a little girl. I have known that as a Christian I should love white people, but I couldn't help myself. I hated whites and wanted to get revenge. Tonight I have begun to love whites by faith, and it really works."

The young man added, "It worked for me, too; now my hatred for whites is gone. Thank you for telling us how to love by faith."

Whites who have hated blacks and blacks who have hated whites have discovered God's supernatural love for each other. Christian husbands and wives who were living in conflict have claimed God's love by faith, and miracles have resulted. Parent-child struggles have been resolved and generation gaps have been bridged through loving by faith. Disputes in working situations have been resolved. Enemies cease to be enemies when you love them by faith. God's love has a way of dissolving prejudice and breaking down barriers.

Read verses:

This  provide guidance on topics relating to love such as; relationships, marriage, family, children, strength, and love of others. The Bible says that God is love, which makes it the perfect source to learn how to love others, even those who are difficult for us to. Our world has skewed the meaning of true love but God's Word remains a steadfast, true source of knowledge on how to love. Read the below scripture from the Holy Bible about love in relation to God, Jesus Christ, and the Christian faith and begin seeing the change in your heart and mind!

 

Week # 4     Scripture Reading: (please explain what love this scripture is referring too) (Romans 12:9)

 

Week # 4     Weekly Word:       Storge

 

Week # 4     Study Questions:

1.       How does this love enter into your life?

2.       In this study it's explained that each of these descriptions of love is not an expression of the emotions, but what are they?

3.       Explain some of the greatest things that happen when you discover God's supernatural love.           

 

Week # 4     Quiz:

4) Which of these is NOT one of Jesus' teachings about love for God the Father?

 God loves everyone in the world and wants them to love Him also.

 Always pray and don't give up.

 Above all else, observe the letter of the law in religious matters.

 If we love God, we will obey His commands.

 

Weekly Reading Assignments:  I Corinthians 13

Casting All Your Care Upon Him

Casting All Your Care Upon Him
1 Peter 5:7

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