Old Testament Lesson 21 Moses' Anger

This is a great message about the temptation of anger and the life of Moses.  Enjoy!

The Year for Canceling Debts

 

Scripture:  “… the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed …”  Deuteronomy 15:2b

 

“ … for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised …”  Deuteronomy 15:4b-6a

 

From today’s readings in Deuteronomy 15:1-11 and Galatians 1

 

 

Observation:  This morning while I was getting ready for the day the song came over me with the lyrics, “Oh the grace that is greater than all my sins …”  As I got ready I looked the song up on my phone and played it about three or four times.  The lyrics are so beautiful! 

 

If I told you my story
You would hear hope that wouldn't let go
If I told you my story
You would hear love that never gave up
If I told you my story
You would hear life but it wasn't mine

If I should speak then let it be

Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
To tell you my story is to tell of Him

If I told you my story
You would hear victory over the enemy
If told you my story
You would hear freedom that was won for me
If I told you my story
You would hear life overcome the grave

If I should speak then let it be

This is my story this is my song praising my Savior all the day long


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Writers: Mike Weaver / Jason Ingram

 

It’s a song about freedom and having victory over the enemy!  It’s His-Story that He writes into our hearts and lives!  Then I opened my Bible and read these words, “the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.”  I wanted to jump out of my seat and do the HalleluYAH dance!  Right now I am on a physical and spiritual journey with the LORD for better health.  I have struggled and been around this mountain in the wilderness for about 28 years – since I was 17 years old!  When one doctors words sank deep in my brain that I needed to lose 15 lbs to be at my ideal weight.  When I heard those words the perfectionist in me stood up and said, OK!  15 lbs and I will be PERFECT!  There is much more to this story, but it was the beginning for me of “working toward perfection”, trying to “save myself” physically.  But God wants to use “my story” and turn it into HIS STORY – what HE can do for me.  And I have sought Him over the years and done the “Christian weight loss” groups and read the books.  And have gained victory for short periods of time, but since last fall I think I really have given this over to Him and been seeking Him for HIS answers for me.  Today I receive that word, “the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.”  I can know that this year will be different, the results will be different.  This is a lifestyle change, but even more importantly a heart change.

 

Application:  “Remember that you were slaves [in bondage] in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.”  Deuteronomy 15:15

 

Prayer:  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.  (Galatians 1:3-5)

 

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings [no], or of God? Or am I trying to please people?  [No] If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.  (Galatians 1:10)

 

 

One note:  Christ cancelled ALL our debts at the cross when He died and was resurrected.  What is important to note is that we don't always receive the "Paid in Full" stamp over every area of our life when we accept Christ.  As important as what Jesus did for us, receiving it, letting it be proclaimed and heard and taken into our hearts is JUST as important.  Stop trying to do things in your own fleshly works and let Him proclaim over you, "It is finished" ... no more struggling, trying, fighting ... just listen and obey ... trust me!  It's so much easier this way!  Oh the GRACE that is GREATER than all my sins ... let His GRACE cover you today ...

 

He can relate to me

A little prelude:  In my class at DBU I am limited to a two page paper, maybe somebody ought to limit my posts! Today I am more or less "thinking a loud". As I began to read Mark 11 this morning I began to put myself in the passage (ever do that?) and I put some of what I may have felt into the passage (I hope that is okay?), but in the end it allowed me to see the human side of Jesus that makes Him totally relatable to us. So I hope it's not too lengthy and I hope that the thoughts in my head have been made clear in the words on the page today.  I pray everyone has a blessed day and a wonderful weekend. 

Read:  Num. 35:33-34 and Mark 11

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer

 

S:  ^“The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.  Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard him say it.”  Mark 11:12-14

 

O:  One thing I noticed from the passage today is the humanness of Jesus.  We say Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time, and I believe that is one of the mysteries of Who He was.  How He could be fully both at the same time.  I suppose I like to focus more on Christ’s diety than I do His humanness for some reason, but today it was His humanity that jumped out at me.

 

Hebrews 4:15 says this, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.”

 

I wanted to mention the verse in Hebrews first because it specifically states that Jesus did not sin, even in His humanness.  As we look at the ways Mark 11 shows Jesus as human (like us) keep in mind that He did not sin:

 

1.       He got hungry (verse 12)

2.     He experienced emotions (verses 11-17)

3.     He got upset and angry (verses 14-17)

Jesus was human.  He needed to eat sometimes.  The Bible doesn’t share a lot about Jesus’ diet.  We know at one time walking through a field His disciples grabbed a stalk of grain and rubbed it between their fingers/palms and ate the grain; perhaps Jesus did too.  Jesus was condemned for eating with sinners.  Jesus cooked fish early one morning for the disciples.  Jesus in his humanity ate and got hungry just like we do.

 

I find it interesting that the verse says it was not the season for figs.  The implication here is that Jesus was really, really hungry because look at what He does – He curses the fig tree for not producing figs (even though it wasn’t the season for figs).  In my NT Survey class we studied this passage and the theological way of looking at this passage is that it was a foreshadowing of Israel and what was going to take place there after the crucifixion of Jesus. 

 

I don’t doubt this was true, but I also know in my humanness two things and I guess I kind of put my own feelings if you will into this story.  Jesus was about to be crucified.  You might say this was creating a lot of human emotions in Jesus.  If we focus just on the diety of Jesus we might miss this.  We know in the Garden just before His crucifixion He was praying so hard over what was about to take place that He began to sweat drops of blood.  This was no easy task for Jesus.  He was under a lot of, you might say, stress and emotions.  He was fighting His own will vs. the will of the Father, but the will of the Father won out – “not my will, but THINE be done”.

 

I don’t know about you, but when I’m under a lot of stress I find myself reacting in unexpected ways.  I’m not saying Jesus did that.  We are not told that in this passage, but why curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit when it wasn’t it’s time to bear fruit?  Jesus was hungry, He was experiencing, no doubt, some high emotions, perhaps in our language, feeling some “stress”.  Did He curse the fig tree out of what He was feeling or was it simply as my NT Survey class pointed out a foreshadowing event?

 

We don’t know the timing, but it appears Jesus went from the fig tree to the temple, still hungry.  He sees the money changers and is bothered by what is taking place in the temple.  Again Jesus is upset.  We see him reacting with anger at the situation, at the injustices being done there.  These money changers were price gouging the people who were coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  Jesus was upset at what He saw.  He could have done anything He wanted to the people, but instead He simply overturned the tables.  Again this is one of those scenes you don’t hear a lot of church sermons on.

 

A:   I think it is refreshing to me to know that Jesus was human too.  He got hungry, He got upset, He experienced emotions.  In our Christian walk we might be tempted to minimize our feelings and emotions and our humanness, but these are part of who we are.  We get hungry.  We feel emotions and sometimes we get upset.  Jesus, we are told, did not sin in any point when He was tempted, as we are, but He did feel, like we feel.  We can take anything we are dealing with to Him and He will understand.  We can also allow ourselves to be human and feel too.  It is our responses and how we react though in those times that we must be careful about.

 

When it’s 5 or 6 o’clock at night and everyone has had a long day and kids are hungry, and mom is tired, emotions can rise high.  We can become short with each other.

 

This is just one example where I see this played out.  But we never see Jesus taking out His feelings on people.  He took it out on a tree and some tables.  Now I’m not suggesting we all go outside and curse the trees around our house or start overturning the tables in our kitchens, but the point is Jesus didn’t turn to his disciples and start yelling at them.  He didn’t go into the temple punching the money changers.

 

He never allowed His human emotions to hurt those around Him.  In my Christian Doctrine class right now we are talking about the Doctrine of Humanity which is a fancy way of saying “what the Bible says about how we were created and what our purpose is here”.  One verse we are talking about is James 3:10, “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” And if you go back to verse 9 talking about the tongue it says, “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God …”

 

The point being that every person you see has been made in the image of God and everyone deserves our respect and blessing.  Jesus didn’t curse the money changers, He overturned their tables, He called out the unjust way they were treating their fellow man and treating the house of God – the temple.

 

So with all of that (a lot of this is my thinking out loud through the passage today) I guess I am glad to see that Jesus can relate to me (not that I didn’t know that before, but it is refreshing to me to see it this morning).  Jesus got hungry and experienced emotions just like me.  In His divinity He was still human and He knows what I experience when I am under times of stress or just even when I’m simply hungry.  How does that make you feel to know that He knows and experienced what we feel?  (Comment below)

 

P:  Our Father in Heaven, Thank You for sending Your son not only to die for our sins, but to live out His life on earth and to experience things that we would experience so He could be relate to us and we could relate to Him.  While He was fully God we also know He was fully man.  This is a refreshing mystery to me to know I’m not alone in the things I experience or feel.  It is through Christ, our brother, I pray.  Amen & Amen.

Wholeheartedness

 

Read:  Numbers 32 and Mark 10:13-31

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer

 

S:  “… not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly’ … Then Moses said to them, “… arm yourselves before the Lord for battle … every man who is armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the Lord …”  Numbers 32:12, 20, 27

 

“ … crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.  The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”  Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”  Mark 10:1b, 26-28

O:  In these two passages we see the idea of wholeheartedness – wholeheartedly following the Lord.  We must be wholehearted in battle to “clear the land of your enemy(s)”, wholehearted in following after Jesus, and wholehearted in teaching and bringing others the good news of salvation.

 

Just as Jesus called the rich man to leave the thing(s) that mattered most to him, Jesus calls us today to leave those things which hinder us from reaching His kingdom and “hundred times” as great of things in this present age (verse 30).  No matter what we “give up” for Jesus, He ALWAYS has something better (see verses 29-31).  He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (see Ephesians 3:20).  It doesn’t mean there won’t be a battle (Numbers 32).  It doesn’t mean there won’t be persecution (verse 30).  But it does mean IT WILL BE WORTH IT!

 

A:  If there is anything you are holding back from Jesus today I pray that you will become wholehearted.  Leave IT ALL!  If you never put down those things you are clinging so tightly to, then how can your hands be open to receive what He wants you to have? 

 

P:  Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name!  You are a good, good Father!  That is Who You are!  When I think of the people entering the land and how You fought for them and with them to give them the Promised Land, Lord, I think of how sometimes there are things we have to fight for here too.  But for most of us today this isn’t a battle won with physical swords, but these are spiritual battles we face – battles won by getting down on our knees in prayer and as we read and studied yesterday even fasting and prayer.  These are battles won by staying in the Word of God – this becomes our sword that we use to bring our thoughts captive to You so that we can win against those things that hold our minds captive from wholeheartedly serving You.  Father You have so many good plans for us!  Help us to be overcomers so we can be wholeheartedly Yours and so that we can bring others into Your glorious kingdom.  In Jesus’ Mighty, Precious and Saving Name I pray – Yeshua HaMashiach.  Amen & Amen.

If HE wholeheartedly gave everything for us, why wouldn't we wholeheartedly live for Him?

 

 

What will you bring?

Read:  Numbers 30 and Mark 9:14-17 (context is 14-29)

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer

 

S:  “Teacher, I brought you my son …”  Mark 9:17 a

 

O:  In order to get the whole context of the verses it is best to read through verse 29.  In this passage in Mark just before this scene of the father and his son Jesus had just come from the Mount of Transfiguration.  It might be what we call today a “mountain top experience”.  So Peter, James and John and Jesus come and meet up with the other disciples and there is a lot of arguing going on.  If you simply read the verses in the plan Jesus asks, “What is all the arguing about?”  And the man replies, “I brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit …” 

 

We could leave off there and conclude with a simple application that we need to bring our problems to Jesus.  That in itself might be a very good application, and for me today is really a good and timely word because there is something I’m struggling with personally that I do need to bring to Him, but my curiosity couldn’t leave the story there so I read on further.

 

The other disciples had tried to drive out the spirit (verse 28), but couldn’t.  They asked Jesus later, “Why?”  Jesus replied to them with a verse that you may be familiar with, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”  I’m not sure what “this kind” refers to.  Is it only this kind of spirit?  Or is Jesus referring to “this kind” being things that are more difficult in general?  Have you personally ever had or dealt with something SO difficult that only prayer and fasting brought you the answer or the healing you were seeking?

 

The other familiar part of this passage is verse 24.  The father said to Jesus, “I believe!  But help me with my unbelief.”  Sometimes what we think we totally believe in, we find we still have a part of us that doesn’t believe.  I have a friend who is trying to make a life-changing decision.  One moment she feels secure in her decision to move forward and at other times she doubts that choice.  She is like this father.  I believe, but help me in my unbelief. 

 

Let’s break it down:

 

I believe – pisteuō - to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in, to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith, to entrust or be intrusted with something

 

1.       Help me – boētheō - to help, succour, bring aid; it is interesting that this word is used twice in this passage, once in verse 22 where the father is talking to Jesus about all this spirit has inflicted on the son and he asks Jesus to please have compassion on them and to please help them and then again here to help his unbelief.  The point is this man needed both physical AND spiritual help.  Help heal my son and help me to believe (again).  I would imagine after years of dealing with this spirit and seeing his son thrown into fire and seeing his son thrown into water and possibly nearly drowning and seeing his son nearly destroyed they had probably lost a lot of their belief – their confidence and hope in ever seeing him healed and made right.  Jesus asked “how long has he been this way?” and the father said, “since he was a child” or “from childhood”.  He probably was not born that way, but at some point in this boy’s childhood a spirit entered him and he would often convulse and foam at the mouth and he experienced a range of things that no parent would ever want to deal with.  This father had lost his “belief”.  Jesus was his last hope, his last option.  The disciples couldn’t help him; the rulers or Pharisees or the “church leaders” couldn’t help him.  Here they stood at the mercy of Jesus.  “Help me please!” the father cried out (verse 24).  This is the word we saw the other day “krazo” meaning to cry or pray for vengeance.  It also means to “vociferate” which means to “shout, complain, or argue loudly or vehemently”.  This was no quiet plea, this was a LOUD desperate cry with literal tears!  HELP ME PLEASE!  Have you ever cried out to Jesus like this?  This is the plea of a desperate parent for their child!  This father didn’t want his own unbelief to hold back the healing of his son.  He was ready to lay it all down and surrender every part of his unbelieving heart to Jesus.  Perhaps this father was ready to stop trying to take care it on his own; to stop seeking people who couldn’t help him and go to the only one who could help him.

 

In my unbelief – apistia - weakness of faith, unfaithfulness, faithless, want of faith, unbelief.  Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says it is “withholding belief in the divine power” or “little faith”.  I think this father hoped Jesus could heal his son, but doubted whether it was possible.  Perhaps the father knew Jesus could, but doubted He would.  Either way there was a certain lack of faith.  This man had lost hope.  Have you ever dealt with something for so long that you didn’t know if it was even possible anymore to find healing or help?  That is where the enemy wants to keep us – doubting, fearful, with little faith.

 

A:  What is it today you want to bring to Jesus?  This father brought his son.  Do you have a child you need to bring to Jesus for physical or mental or emotional healing?  Do you know of friends or family who are suffering hurt or harm because of either choices they are making, have made or even things out of their own control or past history – things that have been done to them?  Are you making decisions or choices and you just need His peace?  Are you needing healing in your life from illness or addictions and you have dealt with this thing for so long that you have lost hope in ever having a “normal” life?  Whatever it is I implore you to bring it to Jesus.  Cry out desperately to Him for the answer.  If you have lost hope or if your faith is too little then ask Him, plead with Him (loudly even) for Him to cure you of that weakness of faith.

 

Lastly, prayer and fasting may also be something the LORD uses for the situation(s) you are facing.  Some reading this today have never fasted.  Unfortunately in churches today it is not really a thing we talk about, but the Bible has plenty to say on that subject.  There are many different ways to fast and different lengths of time people choose to fast.  If you are not seeing results in your situation maybe it is “the kind” that requires you to fast and pray.  I heard a Bible teacher once talk about fasting and they said that there are three kinds of people, 1) people who would never fast, 2) people who might fast for themselves and their own situations and 3) people who fast for other people and their situations.  We want to be the kind of people that fall into category #3!  People ready to fast and pray for our loved ones and our friends.  If you know of someone today who is having a “this kind” of situation then consider not only praying for them, but dedicating 1, 2, 3 or more days to fasting for them.  Fast all day, fast from one meal, dedicate one day a week to fasting just for them and their situation until you see results.  Another friend of mine who I have known to be an avid faster told me once that she believed fasting “unlocked” things in the heavenlies.  She said she didn’t understand it, but believed it did things we couldn’t possibly understand.  I believe she is correct.  I have seen hearts changed and “things unlocked” when I have fasted.

 

I don’t have all the answers, but if you want to know more about fasting please let me know.

 

P:  Our Father in Heaven,  Thank You that we can bring EVERYTHING to you in prayer!  Father sometimes we deal with things for so long and we lose hope that we will ever find the answer(s) we are seeking.  God, there are people we love that are suffering from hard things, even mental illnesses, that are causing them great pain.  Father I pray that we would be the kind of people that can fast and pray not only for ourselves and the answers we seek, but also for the needs of others.  Lastly, Father, I pray that if there is any doubt in us, any shortage of faith, that You would supply that faith and help us as you helped this father and his son.  Thank you that You are Jehovah Rapha – Our Healer!  It is through Christ we pray, Amen & Amen.

Open my Eyes

Read:  Numbers 29:40 and Mark 8

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer

 

S:   “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ He said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’”  Mark 8:33

 

O:  Jesus wants us to be of the same mind as The Father.  The word in verse 33 “have in mind” in Greek is phroneō and it means “to be of the same mind i.e. agreed together, cherish the same views, be harmonious, to understand or to be on the same side as”. 

 

All through this passage we see the disciples as not understanding what Jesus was about doing.  In the feeding of the 4,000 the disciples wanted to send the people away, but Jesus wanted to meet their needs so no one would collapse or faint on their way home.

 

In the boat Jesus was concerned about the leavening of the Pharisees and Herod and the disciples had their mind on the single loaf of bread with them.  You see Jesus was thinking about what was about to transpire (see verse 31) with His upcoming crucifixion and instead of the disciples thinking about the Bread of Life (Jesus), they were only thinking about the fact that they only brought one loaf of bread with them in the boat.  Jesus was thinking long-term while the disciples were thinking short-term.  Jesus was thinking about the BIG picture or the overarching plan of salvation and the disciples were thinking about, well, lunch.

 

After that Jesus came to Bethsaida and opened up the eyes of the blind man.  I think this is important because the disciples themselves really were quite “blind” to the plan and purpose of Jesus.  They too needed their eyes opened.

 

Following the healing Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi where He got down to business with the disciples.  He wanted to know – “Do you really know who I am?”  Peter said, “You are the Messiah.”  Jesus was probably glad to hear that answer because He was beginning to wonder if they really understood (see verse 21).

 

Once He knew the disciples were on board with who He was then He began to talk to them about what was going to happen, but Peter wasn’t about all that.  The Messiah was supposed to set up His Kingdom and rule and reign.  Peter was ready for that!  But to die?  Uh-uh, not going to happen!  To which Jesus replied, “Get thee behind me!”  Jesus was basically saying to Peter, “Either get with me on this thing, or go away!”

 

Jesus’ final words to the disciples and to the people there was this, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

 

A:  The application is this:  We have to put away our own ideas and ways of thinking and get His ideas and ways of thinking in us!  We have to phroneo - to be of the same mind i.e. be agreed together with Him, cherish the same views He does, be harmonious and understand or to be on the same side as He is.  Let’s get with Him or “go home”!

 

P:  Father in Heaven, God Your ways are not our ways!  God You see the BIG picture and sometimes we are just thinking about “what is for lunch”.  God I pray we would phroneo – that we would begin to get the same mind as You and be more mindful of Your ways and Your plans.  God we can look at our world and the news and all that is transpiring at this time God and we can get narrow minded and earthly minded, but I pray that we would set our minds on heavenly things God and trust You and get on board with Your plan.  It may not look like, and probably will not look like, our ideas and plans, but I want to be on board with You LORD!  Help me, help us, to do that!  In the Name of Jesus I pray, Amen & Amen.

Fourteen Ways to Love

Read:  1 Corinthians 13

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer

 

S:  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  I Corinthians 13:13

 

O:  This love that is spoken of here in this chapter is AGAPE love.  In the Bible there are four Greek words to define love.  Some are used to describe a passionate love, some for the love you share with a friend, but agape love is the love that Jesus and the Father shared.  (John 15:9)

 

What does agape love look like?  I Corinthians 13 defines it for us using 14 terms:

1.       Makrothymeō – Patient Perseverance (to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles, to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others).

2.     Chrēsteuomai – Kindness (to show one's self mild, to be kind, use kindness).  This word is ONLY used one time in the Bible and it is here when describing agape love.

3.     Ou Zēloō – It is NOT envious (heated or to boil with envy, hatred, anger).  This word is what Joseph’s brothers had for him that caused them to sell him into slavery (Acts 7:9).  This has no place in our relationships.

4.    Ou Perpereuomai – It is NOT boastful (employing rhetorical embellishments in extolling one's self excessively, being a braggart, puffing oneself up).  This word here is used twice in the Bible and both times it is used here.  It says it twice in a row which tells me it is pretty important.  Jesus had all sorts of “bragging rights” (see Philippians 2:6 “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage …”), but he humbled himself and did not boast in those things; we should be like Jesus.

5.     Ou Aschēmoneō – It is NOT to act unbecomingly.  The only other place this is used is I Corinthians 7:36 describing how a man would act with a virgin.  Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says it means that you do not disgrace someone.

6.     Zēteō Ou Heautou – It seeketh NOT for one’s own benefit (thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into, to seek after, seek for, aim at, strive after, to crave, demand something from someone).  This means we don’t just think about our own needs and wants, we don’t seek after our own desires, we don’t demand our own way.

7.     Ou Paroxynō – It does NOT make or cause others to be angry (to irritate, provoke, arouse to anger, to exasperate).

8.     Logizomai Ou Kakos – It does NOT consider, count or think about (to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over, making an accounting of) evil (things that are troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, baneful, wrongs or wickedness).  It doesn’t think about all the bad things the other person has done to injure or trouble you.  It doesn’t think about all the ways you could do them wrong.  It doesn’t wish bad things to come to them.  It wishes the other person well; it wants the best things for them regardless of how they have treated you.

9.       Chairō Ou Epi Adikia – It is NOT happy (to rejoice, be glad) with injustices (injustice, of a judge, unrighteousness of heart and life, a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness).  Love doesn’t celebrate hearts and lives that violate God’s or man’s laws.  It does not mean you do not love the person, but we certainly don’t lift up or rejoice or bless unrighteousness.  Jesus called out those who thought they were right, but were really wrong.  If our children do something that violates God’s or man’s laws we would not be happy about that, we wouldn’t celebrate those things; that is not true love.  No, we hopefully would deal with and in a loving (patient, kind) way deal with those violations of the law. 

10.  Sygchairō Alētheia – It rejoices with (to rejoice with, take part in another's joy, to rejoice together, to congratulate) things that are true (things that are moral, truth, reality, God’s truth, telling the truth).  This to me is a picture of having godly relationships.  It also is a picture of what Paul described in Philippians 4:8 of the things we are to think about where he says think about what is true and honest and just and pure.  The use of the word true there is alēthēs which is similar to our word here in I Corinthians 13, but in Philippians it means things that aren’t concealed.  We want to have godly relationships that we can celebrate things that are true or truth.

11.     Stegō – It bears up under (to protect or keep by covering, to preserve).

12.  Pisteuō – It believes (to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in, to entrust a thing to one).  This kind of love has confidence in those we love.  We entrust ourselves to them.  Of course who is the only one who will never let us down?  God and Jesus.  While we entrust ourselves to others here, we do so by first entrusting ourselves and the other person to God.  When the other person lets us down (because they are human) we need to believe the best of them still and have confidence that it will be okay in the end because we trust in and believe in God and His goodness.  Certainly I’m not talking about extreme situations where the other person is mistreating us in ungodly ways or violating laws (see #9), but when they make a mistake (we all do) let us first believe the best of their overall character.  Give them the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they were just having a bad day.  Believe the best first!

13.  Elpizō – It hopes (to wait for salvation with joy and full confidence, to hopefully to trust in).  This kind of love understands that we are all sinners saved by grace.  Part of our salvation is our sanctification which is a process.  It takes time!  So we hopefully trust for the future.  When we see our kids are not following the ways of the LORD that we attempted in our own human feebleness to teach them, then we hope in God that one day they will come around.  We don’t give up on each other.  We hope for the best possible future.  Agape love doesn’t give up hope.

14.  Hypomenō – It endures (to remain, not recede or flee, to persevere: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ, to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments).  Early in my marriage when we would get in a fight I would want to leave.  I think a lot of it was the “fight or flight” thing in me.  I hate conflict so fighting is not really my first choice so I’ll just leave.  People are tempted at times to use the “D” word.  We want to protect ourselves from hurt.  I recently watched a short video where a guy was describing lobsters and how they grow.  Basically when their shell gets too tight they go under a rock and shed their shell and grow a new one.  The point was that adversity and stress can cause us to grow “new shells” so to speak.  Marriage and other relationships are NOT easy.  They can be messy, but they can also “grow us up”.  God can use these relationships to make us more like Him; they can be (and are) part of our sanctification process!  I remember as a young wife 20+ years ago when we would fight I’d storm off, slam a door and go into a room by myself and be mad.  As time wore on I dealt with those things and “grew up”.  I thought after about 10-12 years I’ve come a long way.  I really didn’t think I had a problem with anger anymore.  Then I had kids!  (SMH)  All these new feelings of impatience and stress and being overwhelmed and I started dealing with wanting to FLEE and leave and run away again (please don’t tell me I’m the only one).  Parenting is not for the faint of heart!  With each kid I “grew up” a little more.  God used these relationships in my life (and still is) to sanctify and purify and to help me “grow a bigger shell”.  The point is this:  If I hadn’t endured through the past 24 years (not that marriage is something to be “endured”), but if I had run away as I threatened so often in those early years I would not be who I am today.  God has helped me to endure and has used that endurance.  As Paul says, let us run the race with patient endurance!

 

Seven is a complete number so fourteen must be a double portion!  Here are fourteen ways we can choose to love today!  These are how God loves us!!!!!!!  These are ways we need to love others so we can point them to Him!

 

 

 

 

Most of these are verbs – they are actions!  Love is a verb.  It is what we do; it how we respond to each other.  It is a choice.  How do you chose to love today?  (And no excuses, I don't want to hear that it is 'all Greek to me' LOL.)  J

 

This kind of Love will NEVER, EVER fail (ekpiptō - to fall out, to perish, fall from a position, to be without effect).  Nothing can separate us from this love of Christ – in another words we can never fall from a position of being loved by God in this way.  This kind of love will never be without some kind of effect!

 

A:  The application here is easy, but hard.  Examine your heart (as I have mine) before the LORD.  Are you loving these fourteen ways?  As I meditated and studied and considered these ways to agape love I realized that I am not fully loving the way God intends for me to love.  My prayer is that God would fill me up with this kind of love for others.

 

 

 

 

P:  Our Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name!  God You are an AMAZING GOD!  Your LOVE, Your agape love is so AMAZING!  Father, forgive me and change ME!  Mold me and make me to have the fullness of this kind of love in all of my relationships, but especially in my marriage and with my children.  God I believe that You give us these relationships to sanctify us – to change and to make us more into Your likeness.  Thank you for my family.  Help me to love like You love.  It is in and through Jesus Christ, for whom all things were made, I pray, Amen & Amen.


** This post is dedicated to my husband Lance who has endured with me for 24 years today!  Happy Anniversary!  I pray that the next 24 I will love you more and more with God's Agape Love!   Thank you for putting up with all of my many imperfections and for growing up with me.**