Day 5

A Call to Love . . . and to Death

John Piper writes the following on how dying to self is the key to truly loving (love is not self-seeking).

§  Being long-suffering means dying to the desire for an untroubled life.

§  Having no jealousy means dying to the desire for unshared affection.

§  Not boasting means dying to the desire to call attention to our successes.

§  Not acting unbecomingly means dying to the desire to express our freedom offensively.

§  Not seeking our own way means dying to the dominance of our own preferences.

§  Not being easily provoked means dying to the need for no frustrations.

§  Not taking account of wrongs means dying to the desire for revenge.

§  Bearing all things and enduring all things means dying to the desire to run away from the pain of obedience.

Love at home, love at the office, love in the neighborhood, love in the body of believers? Are we willing to die? If we are this satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ, then the promises will surely come true: we will bear much fruit, we will live forever, we will be with the Lord, and the Father will honor us.

When Jesus calls a man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, he bids him come and die. Come. Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to love.

How does this impact your grasp of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7)? 

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Contributors:  Claudia Brydon, Chris Firth, Bob Klecan, Ed Pierce

Day 4

The Cross and Love

During the 1720’s Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf visited a Dusseldorf art museum, where he was especially moved by a particular painting of the crucified Jesus.  The painter had painted the picture with the intent of conveying his love for Christ.  Below the picture were the words:

            All this I did for thee,

What hast thou done for Me?

Zinzendorf’s heart was affected.  Christ’s love as demonstrated in the cross became the constraining power of his life, as 2 Corinthians 5:14 states, “The love of Christ constrains (compels) me.”  “I have,” he exclaimed, “but one passion, tis He and He only.”  It was the dying love of Christ mastering his life that fitted Zinzendorf for the work he had to do.

Zinzendorf returned home to provide spiritual leadership for about three hundred refugees from religious persecution, the majority of which were Moravians, spiritual descendents of the Czech martyr Jon Hus.  The goal of Zinzendorf and the elders was to lead their souls deeper into the love of Christ, into which they had been baptized. 

In August 1727 the community experienced a breakthrough of love and unity during a special Lord’s Supper celebration.  They asked the Lord to “keep us in the saving power of His grace, and not allow a single soul to be drawn away to itself and its own merits from that Blood-and-cross theology, on which our salvation depends. 

Following this experience the Moravian brethren were possessed by a zeal for missions.  The Spirit breathed in power on the young and the old.  People’s hearts were filled with a burning love for the Savior who died for them.  They emphasized Isaiah 53:10-12 as their chief incentive, from which they drew their battle cry, “To win for the Lamb that was slain the reward of His sufferings.”  They started a 24-hour prayer vigil which lasted 100 years.  

During the following 25 years they sent out more than 100 missionaries.   It is worth noting that this is before the start of the modern missions movement. 

Some of these Moravian missionaries met John Wesley on a boat bound for America.  In the presence of their sincere and wholehearted devotion to Christ Wesley realized that his own religiosity was bankrupt.  He was later converted to Christ at a Moravian chapel in London, and became the founder of Methodism and the Great Awakening in England. 

William Carey, the “Father of modern missions,” was also greatly influenced by Moravian missionaries.  Carey went on, against the overwhelming opposition of his church associates, to be the founder of a missions movement that really continues, in many different waves and manifestations, to this day. [1]

Think about this.  One artist painted to communicate his deep love for Jesus. One man’s faith caught fire during this encounter with the suffering Savior and became the spark for a group of three hundred refugees to catch fire with a  “blood and cross” motivation that impacted the entire world for Christ.  Our desire is that of the Moravian leaders, to lead our souls deeper into the death of Christ.  It is certain that, if we go there, we will be changed.  Whether we impact people around the world, in our own homes, or in our communities, we will be people of new impact and power.  Author John Stott says that the cross is “the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough to it for its sparks to fall on us.[2]

                           Questions for Reflection

Re-read John Stott’s words in the last sentence of the devotional.  How will the cross kindle the flame of our love?

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Specifically, if the flame of our love is kindled by the cross, how will this affect this week’s theme, love keeps no record of wrongs? 

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The Moravian’s chief  incentive was Isaiah 53:10-12.  Read and reflect and ask the Lord to motivate you to a deeper and fuller love and service through the truth of the cross.  

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[1] This story is summarized from several sources, most significantly From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth Tucker and Come to the Lord’s Table by Claude King.  

[2] From What Christ Thinks of the Church by John Stott

Day 3

Love keeps no record of wrong

This verse read in a Greek transliteration comes out, “does not reckon the evil.”  Investigating further, we find that “keeps record of (logizomai) means to reckon, impute, or number.  It has the idea of occupying oneself with calculations; putting something to a person’s account, either in his favor or against him.  The word “wrong” (kakos) carries with it the idea of bad, intrinsically lacking in value, useless.  It is likened to a torn garment or a doctor who lacks adequate skill.  God is love and  He empowers us to love as He does.  “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12)).  God enters NO calculations in His book of records for all the wrongs and evils we have committed.  They are infinitely removed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  We are told in Colossians 3:13, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  Because of the power of God’s love in us, we can keep records of all the wrongs done to us at a BIG FAT ZERO.  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)

How do you let go of wrongs done to you?  Do not repeatedly bring up to your mind offenses committed against you.  Dismiss them!  Amy Carmichael made a conscious choice to forget, stating, “I distinctly remember forgetting that.”  Hurts and consequences of the wrongs may linger, but you can cease and desist from parading them through your mind, chewing on and mulling them over and over again. 

A recent example of this comes through our son.  Last fall his motorcycle was t-boned by a pick-up and truck.  His left ankle was shattered and dislocated.  He underwent excruciating pain in the resetting of his ankle, and putting all the bones back in place was problematic.  For months our son lived with the uncertainty of whether his foot would ever heal and that it might even have to be amputated.  Sometimes he struggled with anger toward the driver of the pick-up truck.  After all, that man got off almost scot-free.  His truck suffered very little damage and his insurance company paid out all the money to settle with our son.  In the meantime, our son’s life was extremely disrupted by pain, worry, multiple doctor visits, mobility issues, etc.  He felt justified in his anger toward that truck driver and sometimes entertained thoughts of finding where the man lived so he could break that driver’s ankle.  Our son was tormented by these feelings and thoughts for weeks.  But he also could not get away from these verses, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).  Those verses dwelt in his mind and heart for over a week.  Then God’s peace flooded him as he was reminded to be thankful: thankful that he did not die, thankful he was not paralyzed, thankful he was not injured more severely, thankful for his three little boys and his wife.  He continued to focus on all the blessings of God through this very long, trying ordeal and as a result, thoughts of anger and revenge were shoved out of his mind and heart. 

Jesus’ parable of the king and the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35 is our prime example and gives no excuse for keeping records of wrongs.  One servant owed the king several million dollars.  The servant pleaded for mercy and the king cancelled his debt.  Then this same servant met up with a fellow servant who owed him a small amount of money and  likewise pleaded for mercy.  But the first servant refused and had the other servant thrown into prison.  How dare he!  How dare we!  God is the king and has cancelled our debt that was bazillions of dollars!  How can we keep accounts of the wrong done to us, for they are mere pittances by comparison.  Love indeed keeps no record of wrongs.  Hallelujah! 

Questions for Reflection

Let’s take the time to read and reflect upon Matthew 18:21-35. 

How do you respond to this?  _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God.

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Forget About It

Day 2

Forget About It

     “(Love)…keeps no record of wrongs” (I Corinthians 13:5).  Keeping no record of wrongs is, like so much of Christian life, contrary to our nature.  It requires forgiveness.  That doesn’t mean saying a few words, and still having your stomach churn every time you see the other person or think of the event.  Rather, this involves Jesus-inspired, Spirit-enabled forgiveness, sincere, deep, from the heart.  Not unlike God’s forgiveness of your wrongs.

    

Jesus took forgiveness seriously, as evidenced by His forgiveness of those who played a part in His crucifixion (Luke 23:34).  He made it clear that He holds us to that same standard.  Jesus taught that anyone who is angry with someone else is liable to judgment and that before offering a gift to God, we are first to leave the altar, reconcile (easier said than done), then return and offer the gift (Matthew 5:22-23).  Give a little thought to which the Lord appreciates more:  reconciliation or (pick one): giving money, teaching Sunday School, serving on a committee, etc.  Do you honor God by giving Him what He says He wants, or do 

you ignore the tough commands and substitute service in hopes the Lord won’t notice?

    

When we read the New Testament (the gospels or the epistles, the message is the same) the burden is put squarely on us to forgive, to move the situation off center.  Even if the other person won’t cooperate, please remember that relationships on earth aren’t just between us and the other person.  They also involve God.

     While we may think we lack the ability to “keep no record of wrongs”, do we really believe God will require something of us that He won’t equip us to do?  As Christians, it is utterly unimportant whether we are right and the other person is wrong. What is important is that we surrender the situation to the Lord and honor Him by doing what we might think we are incapable of doing.

  

    “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).  As with all Scripture, either those words are true or they’re not.  If someone looked at your life, or mine, and specifically in the area of true forgiveness, what conclusion would they draw about God’s ability to work in and through us? 

 

Forgive as God in Christ has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).  How has God forgiven you in Christ, and how does this empower you to love instead of keep a record of wrongs? 

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Jesus on the Cross prayed Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34)

Reflect on this Scripture.  What can we learn about forgiving from Jesus’ amazing words of forgiveness?

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Based on the devotional, write out a prayer for today:

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Love: Remain Current

Week 6

Day 1

Love: Remain Current

Love does not store up the memory of wrong it has received.  The word translated store up is an accountant’s word.  It is the word used for entering an item into a ledger so that it will not be forgotten.  That is precisely what so many people do.  One of the great arts in life is to learn what to not hold onto.  A writer tells how, in Polynesia, where the natives spend much of their time in fighting and feasting, it is customary for each man to keep some reminders of his hatred.  Articles are suspended from the roofs of their huts to keep alive the memory of their wrongs – real or imaginary.  In the same way many people nurse their wrath to keep it warm: they brood over their wrongs until it is impossible to forget them.  Christian love has learned the great lesson of not ledgering, or not hanging out for reminder, the wrong one has endured. 

How about you?  As we attempt to live out the different characteristics of love, it becomes evident to me it will take more than “me” to make them a reality in my life.  I Corinthians 5:17 states, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away, behold new things have come (NASB).  We are not being asked to live out the impossible.  God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to love as Jesus loved. 

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.                                                                                      Galatians 2:20

Questions for Reflection

What accounts are you keeping that you need to stop tallying?  With whom?  About what? 

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Reflect on Galatians 2:20 from the devotional.  How does the truth of this verse empower us to remain current rather than keep an account of wrongs suffered? 

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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not Easily Angered

Day 5

Love Is Not Easily Angered

“Love is not easily angered”. That is part of Paul’s description of love in I Cor. 13.  Other Bible translation read, “Love is not provoked” or “Love is not touchy”-- meaning that it does not insist on its own rights or its own way.  Love (God’s love in and through us) is designed to be other-centered  and does not retaliate when wronged.  It depicts a calm, unselfish spirit. 

It doesn’t seem that this kind of calm spirit is very prevalent in our world today.  What we tend to see more often is road-rage or pushing and shoving, and all sorts of impatient “me first” selfishness.  It is truly a challenge to be other-centered in our lives.  It takes God’s grace and intentionality on our part to be able to not be “provoked” or “touchy” in response to feeling that we have been wronged.  We’ve heard about God’s patience with us—that He has a “long fuse” in His dealings with us.  He has told us in Ps 46:10 that we are to “Be still and know that I am God”.  This involves our having a “long fuse” in our dealings with others. We can patiently take a moment to consider the situation instead of just reacting.  It is good that we have been reminded recently that we are continually interacting with “as is” people in our lives, because we need to act and respond with authentic love.  We can learn to see people through God’s eyes.  We can learn to step out and love others—whether they have wronged us or not. 

Thinking of taking our time and being calm and patient brings to mind a kids’ song that is a good reminder.  Maybe you’ve heard it…….

There was a snail called Herbert who was so very slow
He caused a lot of traffic jams wherever he would go
The ants were always getting mad and the beetles, they would fume
But Herb would always poke along and sing this little tune

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you

When Herbert was much younger, he often got in trouble
Forgetting that he was a snail, he did things on the double
He'd crash through every spider web and with crickets he'd collide
'Til one day Herbert's father took his speeding son aside

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you

Questions for Reflection

Be still and know that I am God”.  How does reflecting on this verse help neutralize some of our touchiness? 

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Remember that God is patient.  How has God been patient with you?  Where is He extending His patience to you currently? 

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Write out a prayer reflecting the above devotional

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Contributors:  John Brydon, Bob Klecan, John Lutz, Karen Snow

Love Puts On The Brakes

Day 4

Love Puts on the Brakes

Love puts the brakes on anger.

Anger itself is not a sin.  In Ephesians 4:26, Paul says, “In your anger do not sin.  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”  James told us to be “slow to become angry”  James 1:19.  Jesus himself was angry at least once.  Mark 3:5 says, “He (Jesus) looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed by their stubborn hearts.”  Of course he didn’t sin when he did this; he even healed a man’s hand in the process!  Psalm 86:15 says that God is “slow to anger, abounding in love.”

That being said, we’re on thin ice when we’re angry.  In Genesis 4:6, God said to Cain, “Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast?… Sin is crouching at your door.  It desires to have you, but you must master it.”  Unfortunately, Cain did not master his anger and soon thereafter murdered his brother Abel.  Anger is serious business.  We shouldn’t downplay its significance by saying (either out loud or in the comfort of our own B-Boxes*) things like, “That’s just the way I am.”  Or, “That’s just the way I was brought up.”  Christians who are easily provoked to anger demonstrate a lack of self control and deficient trust in God.  Anger is incredibly contagious, possibly more so than any other emotion.  We’ve all seen situations where things quickly get out of hand when tempers start to flare. 

When we are controlled by love, it affects everything we do and say, even our mannerisms and body language.  Love-filled Christians aren’t touchy or oversensitive.  They genuinely try to understand other people and, with respect, try to “put themselves in the shoes” of others. 

*”B boxes” refer to our minds, our thought processes

Finally, when we do mess up and let anger get the best of us, it’s important to quickly ask for forgiveness.  Your B-Box* won’t like it but the truly humble apology of a previously angry person is a powerful thing.

Questions for Reflection

Have you found yourself saying things like “That’s just the way I am,” or “I can’t help it I’m Irish,” when facing your tendency to be irritable?

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Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast?… Sin is crouching at your door.  It desires to have you, but you must master it.”  (Genesis 4:6)  How does what the Lord said to Cain apply to us today when we allow anger to fester? 

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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not Easily Irritated

Day 3

(Love is)…Not Easily Irritated

     The title is part of I Corinthians 13:5 (Holman Christian Standard Bible).  Other versions render this:  “Love…doesn’t fly off the handle” (The Message); “Love…is not easily provoked” (KJV); “Love…is not easily angered” (NIV); “Love…is not touchy” (Amplified).

  

   I struggle at times with anger, getting irritated, etc.  As I think about what pushes my buttons, it usually comes down to losing control.  Not losing control of myself, but being unable to determine my outcomes, my security, my success, my happiness. 

    If my security, my happiness, etc. is threatened by matters out of my control, my natural response is anger.  The big problem is that I am not capable of maintaining that level of control.  There are too many forces at work which are outside my influence:  other people (and the decisions they make); corporations and other institutions; the government and its laws, rules and regulations; the weather; society and what it promotes; international situations, and so on.

     If I am unable to control people or circumstances that affect me (or, put another way, if my life is in many respects out of control), then I’m likely to be angry or irritable much of the time.  Does my life have to be that way?

    For the Christian, the answer is “no”.  The Bible teaches that when I accept Christ, the Holy Spirit enters and empowers me.  The fruit of that Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).  Sound irritable? Angry?

     So, when I indulge in being angry or irritable, guess who I’ve pushed aside in my life?  Worse, do I carry my frustrations to my loved ones instead of to the One who can actually help me?

     The Bible teaches that when I accept Christ, I become a new creation (II Cor. 5:17); the old has gone and the new comes.  The old me that gets easily riled up, goes; the new creation comes and helps me become better than I could ever be on my own.  Understand, this doesn’t happen all at once; it’s a life-long process.  I’m a better person than I was five or ten years ago.  I’m not as good a person as I will be in five or ten years.  That’s because I’m determined to read, learn and put God’s word to work in my life.  I’m determined, more and more, to seek the Holy Spirit’s involvement in my life.  I’m determined that when unworthy thoughts enter my mind, to take them captive and to push them aside, in Jesus’ name (II Cor. 10:5).

  

   In short: less of me, more of Jesus.  That’s better for me, better for my loved ones and better for God’s Kingdom.

   

   It’s better than being touchy.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, for those things I can control, help me to honor you.  For those things I can’t control, please help me to trust you more, not that you’ll necessarily do what I prefer, but so that the love of Jesus will flow through me in all circumstances, and you will be glorified through my response to all situations.  Thank you.

Less of me, more of Jesus.   How would that change your closest relationships?  How would you become more loving as a result?

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How does the desire for control hinder love, and make me irritable?  

Day 2 That Was Random

Day 2

That was random!

A few years ago I noticed that kids were using a new phrase to describe when one of their peers had an outburst that didn’t seem appropriate to the circumstances – they would say “That was random!”  It was a good way to describe what happened. It was indeed random to those who were watching.  However, it was not so to the one having the outburst.  Something inside of the person caused it.  Paroxysms are not random.

Angry eruptions do not come from nowhere.  They indicate a deficit of higher love in our hearts.  They indicate that there are pockets of self-centeredness, roots of bitterness.  That is why today we must take the time to research our hearts and identify the root of our anger.  God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).  The capacity to love, to keep calm, is planted within us when we are born again by the Spirit.  What we must identify is what is crowding out love and influencing our hearts toward irritability, making us touchy, so that we erupt in anti-love behavior. 

When a person is easily provoked, usually it is the result of something that is underneath the surface.  Again quoting Henry Drummond from 1880,

It is the occasional bubble that escapes to the surface and betrays some rottenness underneath, a sample of the hidden products of the soul, dropped involuntarily when one is off guard.  In a word, the lightening form of a hundred hidden and unchristian sins, for want of patience, for want of kindness, for want of generosity, for want of courtesy, for want of unselfishness, all of these are instantaneously symbolized in the one flash of anger we call temper…Hence it is not enough to deal with the temper.  We must go to the source, and change the inmost nature, and the angry humours will die away of themselves. 

The language is old, but the words ring true!  The idea is this: when we find ourselves prone to outbursts we must look beyond self-control, merely managing the behavior.  That is a good start, because it will keep us from inflicting our poisonous eruptions onto others.  But beyond simply stopping the incidents we need to ask “Why am I so angry?” and get to the root of bitterness and anger.  Otherwise, the volcano will erupt again! 

For example, I have counseled people who over the years have been quick tempered in their marital relationship.  When we sit down to talk, the anger is not caused by the marriage, but that is merely the relationship that is suffering because of his anger.  The anger comes from something prior to the marriage.  As he searches his heart and life he is able to identify the root cause of his anger.  As he reveals this and then deals with what he is really angry about there is hope that his marriage will become much healthier and healing can take place. Often there is a need to go beyond dealing with the root cause in the heart to make amends with those who were hurt by many angry eruptions. 

Eruptions are not random.  There is a root cause.  As we deal with the root cause of our irritability we find that we are now open to the love of God more than ever before.  He can capture our hearts and unleash His love in our lives.  His love in us empowers us to keep calm.  Love is not easily angered. 

Questions for Discussion

Last week we focused on the areas of our lives that have been impacted negatively by angry eruptions, whether dishing it out or receiving it.  Think now about your heart.  If you struggle with your temper, with irritability, with outbursts…why?  Why are you angry?  These are difficult questions.  They are essential.

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Are there people you need to talk to about this?  People you need to apologize to for angry outbursts?  People you need to talk to about the impact their irritability has had on you? 

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Nothing is more important to experiencing the non-irritability of love than being filled with the love of God.  This is the focus of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3.  Pray this prayer…

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.                                          

                                                                 Ephesians 3:14-21