Power Of Loving Others

Key Scripture:  “...the greatest of these is love.”  I Corinthians 13

Power Point:

     Over 2000 years ago Jesus walked the earth. He put on His sandals and strolled through the streets and did what God had been longing to do for years.  He healed the sick.  He cast out demonic influence. He corrected injustices. He stood toe to toe with the Pharisees who had whittled the Law of God down to a long list of rules and regulations.  In short, He took the lies that people believed about His Father and showed them the Truth. He built a fire for all the lies and then He built a framework for a genuine, truthful, real knowledge of God. It took courage to do that. What we usually forget to remember is that Jesus knew His Father. He knew exactly what He stood for and what He didn’t stand for. He knew that His heart was so pure that evil thoughts could not enter in to it.  He knew that His character was so loving and kind that not one person would ever turn away from the goodness in Him. In fact, they would probably run to His wide-open arms.

     Jesus never wavered in His desire to show the world what His Father was like.  Of course, He had a little help in the person of the Holy Spirit. Now THAT was a dynamic duo.  The things that Jesus said, and the things that He did, He always did after consulting with the Father. He gave His all so that we might have it all.

     During His time here, there were annoying, dirty, disgusting people everywhere.  They lined the streets right next to people who were “good” and upright. It didn’t faze Him. He healed them.  He hugged them.  He delivered them.  He knew, as we need to know that these were people who had simply lost their battle with the Enemy and now they were his prisoners.  He believed that it was His job to set them free so He did.  He knew that the desire of His Father’s heart was to buy them back and set them where they belonged, next to Him.

All roads led to the Father for Jesus.  It was His purpose. Blessing the Father was the thing that kept Him going among the dirty, smelly, masses. That purpose kept Him strong even when He did the right thing and people tried to kill Him.

     If love for His Father was Jesus’s motivation, don’t we need to do everything we do with the same foundation?  When was the last time you asked the Father how to handle that person in your life that gets on your last nerve?  When was the last time You said, “Father I want to bless You today by loving them the way You love them.  Will You help me to see things from Your perspective?  Will You help me by the power of Your Spirit to tear down the walls I’ve built and bless them as You long to do? Could we make this about YOU instead of ME or even them?”

I may need to start small. But I intend to start.

Power Thought:

Mother Theresa says it this way:

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

And:  "I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather he will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?”