10 Popular Scriptures on Love

 As we continue with this month's theme on Love, we will look at 10 scriptures on Love. In the last post, we reflected on scriptures that spoke of God's love. This post looks at scriptures that generally speak about Love. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

John 15:12-13 - "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

1 John 4:8 - "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Romans 12:9-10 - "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

1 John 4:19 - "We love because he first loved us."

Ephesians 5:1-2 - "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law."

Colossians 3:14 - "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

1 John 3:16 - "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

1 Peter 4:8 - "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly
since love covers a multitude of sins."

10 Scriptures on God's Love

The month of February brings a lot of anticipation about Valentine's Day. There are Christians that choose to celebrate it and then there are others that do not. Whatever your decision or stance may be, I encourage you to think about the origins of Love, the originator of Love with is our Heavenly Father. There is no greater love than the love He has shown us and continues to show us. 

Here are 10 scriptures on God's love:

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 8:38-39 - "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Ephesians 2:4-5 - "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."

1 John 4:9-10 - "In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

Isaiah 43:4 - "Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life."

Romans 5:8 - "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Psalm 136:1 - "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."

Zephaniah 3:17 - "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

Jeremiah 31:3 - "The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."

1 John 3:1 - "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."

Valentine's Day is one day, God's love is every day. You get to experience it every day. Focus on God's love that does not fade nor end. 

Seasons Change

Summer happens to be one of my favorite seasons. Aside from the smothering heat and mosquitoes, I enjoy the summertime. There are many reasons why I prefer summer over the other seasons and most of these reasons stem from childhood memories. As a child, I enjoyed playing outdoors with family and friends. I enjoyed being able to go for a walk and feeling the sun on my face. I enjoyed going to the beach and spending all my time building sandcastles with my friends. As simple as these reasons may seem, they bring me joy every time I reflect on those memories. Those simple memories have the ability to make me feel calm and help to put things in perspective. 

In the book Songs of Solomon, chapter 2, verses 11-12, these scripture references the seasons and the renewed awareness that they bring. The previous verse, v.10, begins with, " Rise up..." This was a call for action because, in order to fully appreciate what is going on around you, you have to rise up or wake up from your slumber. The next verses detail what to take note of. One of those things is, in v.12, "The rain is over and gone, the time for singing has come."

In our lives there are different seasons, there are times that bring sunshine, like summer, and then there are times that bring dark clouds, rain, and a depressed state. I encourage each one of you to know that, that season is not going to always be the state of your life. It is for only a time, it too shall pass because it is just a season.

When that season is over, acknowledge that it is over by rising up, taking note of what was and what is to come. I want to go a step further and encourage you to speak God's words of hope even in the midst of a bad season. Sometimes you have to go through it to get to the place God wants you to be.

"To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." - Ecc 3:1

God bless you!

The Lord Is My Shepherd ...

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. - Psalms 23:1 

       Psalms 23 is one of the more popular Psalms and each verse gives us a picture of God as the good shepherd. Today, I just want to focus on the first verse.
       I have been praying for months for God to help me receive a scholarship to go off to school. However, these past couple weeks, I've found myself in deeper communion with the Lord. I prayed more, read my bible more and acknowledged God more throughout the day. I had moments when I doubted if God would allow this to happen. I cried, I prayed, I talked about it with my mom who prayed with me and encouraged me daily. Every time I had a moment of doubt, she reassured me. Every time I felt helpless and frustrated,

Taste and see that the Lord is good... Psalms 34:8

     Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalms 34:18

       One of my favorite fruits to eat in the summer time is watermelon. I love the taste, the texture and how refreshing it is. I think it's the best fruit to eat on a hot summer day.
       Since I know the taste of watermelon, I've become knowledgeable about what it does to me and how it's good for me and how it makes me feel. All this knowledge I've acquired not only through experience but through looking up the benefits of the fruit as well.
       Similarly, can we give the Lord God, our creator, the creator of heaven and earth, the same

Happy Love Day!

      Today some people are celebrating Valentine's Day. Receiving flowers, chocolates, poems and heartfelt sentiments are all part of this celebration. For some, Valentine's Day is a wonderful day to show their loved ones how they feel about them. For others, it may be depressing as they may not be in a relationship to receive gifts. For some, this day is just a regular day. There are others still who do not celebrate it. Some may even ask, "What is the craze all about?"
      The craze is about L-O-V-E.  Everyone wants to feel loved. In fact, it's a longing that every human feels at one point. God the author of creation, whom love resides and flows from, created us out of love. Therefore,

Look... God

Happy New Year! New Years Resolution - Trust in God

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

    Happy New Year to each and everyone of you! I pray that this year brings positive changes, spiritual maturity and growth, knowledge and understanding in the things of the Lord, blessings beyond measure and so much more!

    Every year that approaches, you will find that this is the time people want to make drastic changes in their lives. They have a bunch of goals and dreams they want to accomplish each year. But how many of us follow through with our goals? How many of us actually are successful in accomplishing these goals? Statistics show that we rarely accomplish all of these goals however we accomplish a few or some of them.

    This new year, 2014, I urge you to make resolutions concerning your relationship with the Lord. I urge you to

To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice

Thought-provoking Thursday 
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1Samuel 15:22

        Samuel spoke those words to Saul after God had given him specific instructions to wipe out the Amalekites and everything that belong to them. What Saul did instead was spare the life of King Agag and he kept the best of the best for himself and the people. God rejected Saul as king from that point on and although Saul wanted Samuel to go worship with him, God had already rejected him.
        It's interesting that King Saul was rejected immediately after not following God's orders. Saul's heart was not in the right place. As king, he was more concerned with hearkening to the voices of the people instead of the voice of the Lord. By pleasing the people, he in turn disobeyed God.
       In life, serving God and living according to His word must

Let The Past Go, Look Toward Your Future

The past is the past, let's leave it there! As much as we would like to leave our past behind, the devil will always find a way to remind us of it. If it was up to him, we would be wallowing in our own self-pity, depressed and hopeless. But God. 

God has redeemed us of our sins and has cleansed us of our sins and past mistakes once we accepted Him as our Lord. None of us has made mistakes in the past. Although some may be more detrimental than others, mistakes are still mistakes.

       God does not look at our sins and use them against us. Only the devil does. In Psalms 103:12, it states, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Can we fathom the distance from the east to the west? Or try to fathom the multitude of sins God has removed from us to make us brand new, cleanse us, and become the people He has called us to be?
      

 Let's walk into our destiny. Don't look behind, look forward because your future is more promising than what the Lord has in store for the devil. Be encouraged.

If this has motivated or inspired you, share this with a friend. God bless you!

Be Strong and of Good Courage

Motivational Monday!

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

       The words of God will live forever and ever. What He said to His people then, He is saying to us now, if we would just follow Him.

      These words are repeated over and over when He was speaking to the Israelites because they needed encouragement, they needed to know that God was with them regardless of

In Life by Angie Flores

In life there are people that will hurt us and cause us pain,

but we must learn to forgive and forget and not hold grudges.

In life there are mistakes we will make,

but we must learn from our wrongs and grow from them.

In life there are regrets we will have to live with,

but we must learn to leave the past behind and realize it is something we can't change.

In life there are people we will loose forever and can't have back,

but we must learn to let go & move on.

In life there are going to be obstacles that will cause interference,

but we must learn to overcome these challenges and grow stronger.

In life there are fears that will hold us back from what we want,

but we must learn to fight them with the courage from within.

God holds our lives in his hands. He holds the key to our future.

Only he knows our fate.

He see's everything and knows everything.

Everything in life really does happen for a reason: "God's Reason".

Source: Faith and Courage In Life, Inspirational Poem http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/faith-and-courage-in-life#ixzz2jwNczkhk

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