Tag Archives: Respect

The Circle of Love

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Moments with My Father ~

 

For many years now, I have been studying my Bible and learning about my Father and while I may never fully know all about God in my lifetime on earth and in my limited understanding, one thing I have learned over the years is that our Father is One who is worthy of great respect or honor, deserving of high regard as someone of superior standing.  It is because of that, that I desire to listen to Him and talk to Him with a heart of love and admiration.  His Word tells us that when God created us, we were each made in His image.  As believers, His Spirit lives in each of us.  As a result, there is God and His greatness in each of us.  As I reflect upon this today, it is heavy on my heart, the importance of treating each other as such and as we would treat our Father – with great respect or honor.  To be respected, we must be respectable and part of being respectable is treating our Father, others and ourselves with respect. It is a circle of love!  To do so is a social practice that the Apostle Peter understood and wrote about.  The two greatest commandments that sum up the whole Bible is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Going round and round in relationships is a good thing when it is a circle of love and respect.  Swirling it throughout our days I’m thinking is a good thing!  I’m twirling out with you all!  Much love to you ~

Mt 22:34-40; 1 Pe 2:17; Eph 2:22; Jn 14:15-17; Ge 1:26-27; 1 Cor 13:12; 1 Ti 3

 

Led Away to Worship

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Moments with My Father ~

 

As I reflect upon my Father’s Word today, I marvel at the hearts of the Magi who visited Jesus with His mother Mary.  I am sure these three kings had busy lives with a lot of things to do and lots of people about them just as we all have, but their hearts were drawn with incredible pull to leave it all for a time and put forth sacrifice to seek out Christ.  It was the priority they had their minds set on achieving and they implemented a plan to make it happen.  Once they had reached the place where they found Jesus, they bowed down and worshipped Him. To bow down is to bend the knee.  They yielded or gave to Him as was fitting, which was customary when one went before a king and they had hearts that were worshipful of Him, having great respect, admiration and devotion to Him. What a beautiful picture this is of what Christmas is all about! All of this has me thinking again and in response to the reading of His Word, I encourage us all as we go through this Christmas celebration to do as the Magi did, 1) to leave the hustle and bustle of every day life to seek out time with Jesus.  2) Consider what might be something fitting that we could give to Him as a gift and 3) show Him our heart of respect, admiration and devotion to Him.  This is truly the Spirit of Christmas.  Let us worship our King!  Here’s a nice worship song I’d like to share with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2eUJViaNPc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

MT 2:1-11; Jn 4:23-24; 1 Ch 16:29; Ps 95:6-7

God First

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Moments with My Father ~

 

Another day and first things first, I have spent time with my Father this morning and I chuckle over His message to me today.  As He shared His Word with me, He also brought to my memory an experience that I have had in life that helps me to remember the lesson He is teaching me today.  My husband and I were married at a very young age and after we had been married for several years, he decided that he wanted to start opening doors for me to show his love to me.  He wanted to show me kindness, love, respect and let me go through the door first.  Well, I’m a gal that when you try to teach me something new, it takes me awhile to catch on.  It’s kind of like trying to teach an old dog a new trick.  Therefore, as my husband was trying to show his manners to me by opening the door for me to go first, out of habit, I would often reach out to open the door for myself.  In order to teach me or remind me of letting him open the door, one of the first times, he lovingly slapped my hand when I touched the door.  I laughed over this to myself as it was like an oxymoron approach to showing me his gentleman way.  I finally learned and now I wait on him to open the door for me.  I share this because it is similar to our manners towards our Father.  Paul wrote about the church in Corinth that they surprised him, in that they gave first to God in keeping with God’s will and then to him.  As I pondered this, I thought this is a good lesson for me to remember in life – to open the door to my heart for the Lord and let Him be first before me and then I follow Him.  This is showing Him the good manners, kindness, love and respect as my first great love in life.  Amen?

 

2 Co 8:5; Mt 6:33, 22:37=38

High Expectations

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Monday, May 14, 2012
Well, I’ve made it through the weekend to Monday and so thankful to be in Daddy’s company. I know I’m not the only one who loves His presence. As Jesus performed many miracles, a crowd was always following after Him. Because of His great compassion for the people and concern for their need to eat, He miraculously fed them with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish the disciples provided. He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute, hence feeding 4,000 with food to spare. Then sending them away, He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test Him, they asked Him for a sign from Heaven. He sighed deeply and said “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” Then He left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. It strikes me that Jesus sighed deeply when asked by the Pharisees for a sign from Heaven. This story speaks to me that Jesus understands high expectations and disbelief. He wanted the Pharisees to believe in Him for who He was – the great “I Am.” He desired them to love Him just as He was without having to gain their approval or acceptance based on more performance or meeting their expectations. To be accepted just as I am is what we all desire, too. It is to have unfailing, unconditional love – the kind of love that Jesus gives to us. He demonstrated this kind of love for us in that while we were still sinners, He died for us. He tells us that He does not find His pleasure in the strength of the horse, nor does He find His delight in the legs of a man (man’s own ways) but He delights in those who fear Him (respect, trust, believe and reverence Him) and put their hope in His unfailing love for them. He desires we believe in Him and the message He brings, to love Him for who He is and as He is. He desires we find comfort knowing we have His love, too! I know He loves me as I am because His Word tells me these things: God so loved me, He sent His only Son to die on a cross to save me from sin and death just through my faith in Him and not of myself. I am saved as a gift from God, not by works so nobody can boast. My efforts are as filthy rags, yet I can approach His throne with confidence because He is my high priest who sympathizes with my weakness. When I confess my sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive my sins. Oh, I’m so happy God’s love for us is not based on us pulling off the impossible of living perfect! Just as we are – that’s how Jesus loves us! Whoohoo! It just makes me want to love Him right back and love others this way as well. I’m sending much love to ya’s. Have a great day just as you are! Mk 8:1-13; Eph 2:8-9; Gal 3; Pr 19:22; Ps 147:10-11; Heb 4:15-16; 1 Jn 1:9; 4:7-21; Is 64:6; Jn 8:58-59; Mt 22:34-40