Brotherly Love

Brotherly Love

1 Peter 1:22-23
“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

I have some friends back home I miss dearly. These guys I went to church with, served with, witnessed with, traveled with, played music with, shared with, cried with, laughed with, worked with, and prayed with. These guys all had different gifts, but a similar heart. Their hearts are for God.

These guys are the best friends that anyone could ask for. None of us were perfect, and these guys were always willing to help me in the areas where I fell short. Never condemning, but always compassionate. These guys know my past and they have encouraged me. They have seen my mistakes and have forgiven me. They have seen me down and they have lifted me up. They have seen me joyful and have rejoiced with me. They have seen me worried and they have put an arm around me. I have needed to talk with someone and they have listened. They have seen my need and they have prayed with me.

These guys are my brothers in Christ. They know the love of the Father and they are obedient to the truth. They have sacrificed time from their families and their jobs. They have always been willing to help me in any way they can.

It is amazing how God can bring together and use these men who have different pasts, different gifts and different interests and yet, have so much in common through Christ. I am so thankful to God for using these men in my life. Because of these men discipling me, I became a Christian and have a maturing relationship with Christ. I want to thank these men for being the men of God that they are. Because of the obedience to God and the brotherly love that these men have displayed, I was discipled and am now the man I am today.

God is Love

God Is Love
1 John 4:7-21
7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us. 20If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Love is the most powerful thing in the world, or in the universe for that matter. Love is much more than how the world knows love. Why? Because, God is Love. A Christian can know the true power of love. Through Jesus Christ, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In essence, we are filled with God’s love. A Christian not only experiences love differently and deeper than the rest of the world, but is to share this love in a way that only God can, through the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus commanded in Acts 1:8, for us to go throughout the earth witnessing for Him, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to share the love of God in hopes that they too can accept God’s love through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
The love we have shows in our compassion for the lost. We are to realize the blessings we have received and will receive for all eternity and we want others to receive these same blessings. It is not enough for us to accept and receive these blessings of salvation and never share them. The blessings will come abundantly more once we lead others to the same love, Jesus Christ.
I plead with you. Tell others about Jesus and the cross. Tell of the love that Jesus has for the world, for all people, for you. Tell of the love that God has for you, in what He has done for you and how He has worked in your life. Help others to understand that God first loved us and because of His love for us, sent His only Son to earth to take the punishment for our sins, so that we can accept His love, be forgiven and live for eternity in the presence of God, who is Love.

Being a Christian is Costly

Matthew 16:24-27
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.’”

I have had the opportunity to visit several churches in the past 10 years. Sadly, one thing I have noticed in many of the churches that I have visited is, many things that are said in the Bible are not preached with the same emphasis or with the same intended meaning of that of the author. For instance, this particular Scripture (Matt. 16:24-27), is sometimes preached with a less than adequate emphasis or is avoided and disregarded entirely.

Why?

This section of Scripture is hard to accept. Jesus is to the point. He doesn’t give you any options. Jesus says that you must deny yourself if you want to be a Christian. Deny yourself…that goes against our culture. That goes against what we want to do. That goes against the beliefs that we have of what will make us happy.

Our culture and our world, demand that we live selfish, self-centered lives. It has been drilled in our minds that our goal in life is to seek happiness in everything we do. If it doesn’t sound fun, don’t do it. If we aren’t happy, do something else. If we are living this way, we are living for ourselves.

The reason this Scripture is hard for us to read is because it goes against our worldly desires. But Jesus is telling us that if we live our lives like that, we are not living for Him. He goes on to say that if we turn from our worldly ways and desires and do as He says, then we will receive the true blessings. What we see as sacrifice and a burdensome life, Jesus describes as being obedient to Him and we will receive the blessing from it.

One of the main things that Christians are called to do is to make disciples. Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus is to the point here, also, when He say’s “Go.” We are to make disciple. It takes sacrifice to disciple someone. You will have to deny yourself to share the love of God.
If you give your life to Christ, you will find it

What Can You Do To Impact Eternity?

Is your life lead by death? What do you mean?
Are you concerned about the things you will accomplish before you die?
Is your life driven by a list of things you want to do or accomplish before you die?

Think about the most imortant thing that you want to do or the most important thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime.

How important is it to you?
How important will it be to others?
How significant will this act be?
Who will remember you for this?
Will you be remembered for this?
If so, how long do you think you will be remembered?
About the thing you want to do or accomplish, what will the ramifications be when you do this? Or in the future?
Do you think you will be in the history books?
Will accomplishing this act only be for your own personal satisfaction?
If you were to accomplish this act, would it be pleasing to God?
Of all the things that you could possibly accomplish, will this impact eternity?
What could you possibly do to impact eternity?

Is there anything thing you could do in your lifetime that would give you great satisfaction, be pleasing to God, and impact eternity?

According to Jesus Christ, yes there is. He says in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

As a Christian, you are called to make disciples. It is pleasing to God for you to be obedient to your calling. You will benefit from the joy in sharing Christ with others and helping them in understanding and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You will impact eternity by leading others to becoming Christians and them being freed from the bondage of slavery and sin and the condemnation of death, to the salvation of their souls to eternal life.

GOD's GRACE - We are saved only because of God's grace.

Romans 6:12-18, 23
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God’s grace is for everyone. The way to receive God’s grace is through repentance and obedience. Contrary to what some people believe, this is not a legalistic view on salvation. God’s grace is not cheap, but it is offered to everyone, even though many do not accept this wonderful gift. Jesus Christ took upon Himself all your sins and died on the cross for you. He accepted the punishment of death which was meant for you. God did this purely out of His love for us, so that we may have eternal life and fellowship with Him.
God’s grace is free to all. You just have to take it. It is a matter of the heart (repentance and obedience) to be able to accept God’s grace.
If you love the Lord, Jesus Christ, and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, give your life to Him in obedience. Repent and ask for forgiveness of your sins and His grace will be poured out on you!