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A WOMAN’S JOURNEY WITH GOD Focus Verse: “My Father, You are the Lord my God. I desire to love You, to listen to Your voice, and hold fast to You, for You, Lord, are my life”. Deuteronomy 30:20 “An Amazing Walk in Love” Study Text: "Be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2 NKJV Introduction: Numerous articles have been written on the benefits of walking. It has been said that if a daily fitness walk could be put in a pill, it would be one of the most popular prescriptions in the world. It has so many health benefits. Walking can reduce the risk of many diseases - from heart attack and stroke to hip fracture and glaucoma; facts backed by major research. Walking requires no prescription, the risk of side effects is very low, and the benefits are numerous: managing your weight, controlling your blood pressure, decreasing your risk of heart attack and stroke, boosting "good" cholesterol, and reducing your risk of breast cancer and type 2 diabetes. (AARP Health article). My husband Joe and I have jogging/walking for over 30 years. We began this exercise discipline as a "stress reliever", "weight management" and a "builder for our marriage relationship". It continues to be a daily valuable time spent together. While we no longer jog, our stride is sharp, our pace is quick and we continue to reap the benefits of a power walk. We really do love our walk and our time together. The apostle Paul, in our study text is declaring that we, as "God's dearly loved children", are to make our whole life a "reflection of Christ's love". This "amazing walk in love" is the kind of love Jesus had for sinners, love that caused Him to make Himself an offering. to God. He therefore calls us to this sacrificial life of love. Scripture: “There are three things that will endure – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT.
Quote: Love is the most God-like state of the soul. God is not faith or hope; God is love. The Eternal does not believe or anticipate, but He does love – He is love. Love is the life of the soul. It warms every vein and beats in every pulse. (David Thomas) I remember so well a chorus I learned as a little girl in Sunday School . J-O-Y, J-O-Y, This must surely mean, J esus first, Yourself last and Others in between. A Biblical truth taught and never forgotten. An Amazing Walk – Loving God The first and most important commandment is this, declared Jesus: “The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:29-30 NLT). Many times the Scriptures describe this love by analogy to the love of a wife and husband – it is a love of both commitment and passion. A husband and wife may be drawn together by the emotion of love, but they also make a commitment to be true to each other. The commitment sustains them when emotions wane and serves to rekindle and nourish the feelings of love. In the same manner, love for God is a choice we make, as well as an emotion graciously kindled by Him in our hearts. Our love for God is to be exclusive and all-engrossing: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one… all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. We are to love God and Him alone, with all that we are – our feelings, thoughts and actions. All other loves must be subordinate to our love for God. When we love God, we find our greatest fulfillment and joy in Him. Because He is all-loving, He alone satisfies the human heart. Our love of Him springs from our gratitude for His infinite love for us. “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him” (1 John 4:16 NKJV). The greatest truth in all of Scripture is this: God is love. Understanding this in its full extent gives freedom to enjoy all that is yours as a Christian. Believe God’s love! Growing up in a family where unconditional love was experienced, believing may not be difficult. But, if your early years were void of love, this truth may be hard to accept. God loves you, not because you deserve His love, but because His very nature is love. The only way He will relate to you in is love. His love gives you a worth that nothing can diminish. In accepting that love, you will be able to return love to God as well as to others. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV). Experience the profound sense of joy and security that comes from knowing you are dearly loved by God. Enjoy the abundant expressions of love He showers upon you each day. An Amazing Walk – Loving Others
Quote: Love is a feeling of the mind as much as the emotions. It describes the deliberate effort – which we can make only with the help of God. Christian love is an act of the will which needs to be directly cultivated. ( William Barclay) The kind of love Christ modeled calls for deliberate decisions and a conscious effort. His love in us is what enables us to give that love when we want to withhold; to reach out to others when we are tired and want to rest; to serve when we want to be served, and to help others when we ourselves are hurting. Love is work! It comes only from God and we need His grace to give it! “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7 NIV). Random Act of Kindness: During this past Christmas season, a remarkable thing happened at a local fast food restaurant, drive through window. A gentleman paid the order for the car behind him. That person paid for the next car and this went on for most of that day. A conscious decision was made to “give some Christmas love”. Somehow the news media was able to locate the first “love giver”. It was discovered that the gentleman showed this kindness to a person who was agitated over the length of time it was taking to receive the order. Imagine the surprise for that recipient. Imagine even more, the heart of the first giver. Was he a “believer”? God knows! Quote: It’s not difficult loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst. (unknown)
God Himself teaches us how to love one another. As we follow Him, His love multiplies in us. God in His grace has made provision for our human weakness, and He is prepared to teach us how to love one another. There are no exceptions. God can teach us to love even that especially difficult person. Ponder: Are you struggling to love someone? God will help you. He will enable you to love your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, or your enemy in a deeper way than you could ever love them on your own. God will teach you how to express your love in a meaningful way. He is the authority on love! As you relate to others, ask God to make His love overflow to them through your life. “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all” (1 Thessalonians 3:12 NKJV). An Amazing Walk – Loving Yourself There are three natural needs that are the basis for self-love: a sense of belonging, a sense of security and a sense of worth. Jesus, being fully human, had these needs met at His baptism, when God the Father declared, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you” (Mark 1: 11 NLT). God’s Word reminds us that these same needs are met for us in God’s eternal plan. His desire is for His children to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. With this relationship comes a respect for who we are in Him and an expression of wholesome self-love.
When the love of God reigns supreme, the human personality is transformed, by grace, from an idolatrous self-love to an abandonment of love for God and others. Read again this Study Text: “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that” (Ephesians 5: 1-2 The Message). LOVE Without it life is pointless pain and sense-less scheming. A man unloved is not worth very much. He hobbles through life on a broken crutch. But when he knows that someone really cares, He holds himself erect, he acts, he dares. Thanks for Your Love; it brings us hope again; Makes beaten cripples into noble men! (General John Gowans) Pray:
March Study |