datethewordtest

Tag: love

  • Verse to DATE the Word on November 2 (11/2) is John 11:2 

    “It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped
    His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.” – John 11:2
    A Display of Extravagant LOVE for Jesus

    While John 11 is the story about the sickness and the death of Lazarus and then how Jesus brought him back from the grave John interestingly found it necessary when introducing the sisters of Lazarus to tell about Mary’s display of extravagant love toward Jesus.  The full story is told in John 12 but John, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, believed the reader needed to know about the beautiful action that Mary had done.  It seems like John believed anytime anyone hears about Mary of Bethany they need to think about her display of extravagant love for Jesus.  And what a way to be remembered!!!

    In pondering the actions described by John about Mary allow me to point out just a couple of things.  First, notice the statement that she “wiped His feet with her hair.”  There are three stories in the Bible about Mary of Bethany and did you know that in each story you find Mary of Bethany at the feet of Jesus?   In Luke 10:38-42 Jesus came to dinner at the home of Mary and Martha.  Jesus will start TEACHING and Mary LEFT the kitchen to SIT at His feet to LISTEN and  LEARN.  It was a pleasant day and Mary took advantage of the opportunity to store up knowledge about Jesus!

    Later in John 11, we find her again at the feet of Jesus.  This time the day is painful and has been very perplexing as she and her sister had informed Jesus that Lazarus, whom He loved, was sick yet Lazarus died. One can imagine how disappointing it must have been as they BELIEVED Jesus COULD heal Lazarus and they KNEW He WOULD heal Lazarus.  Yet Lazarus died.  When Jesus did arrive Mary went to His feet and there wept.  One can see her TRUSTING Jesus though she did not understand.  On this painful, perplexing day, she LEANED on Jesus and told Him how hurt she was.  Jesus would weep as He saw her tears. 

    Moving to John 12 (and back to John 11:2) we see Mary one more time at the feet of Jesus.  This story of her anointing Jesus with fragrant oil is told in Matthew and Mark.  John tells her she goes to His feet to wipe them in a beautiful act of humility and servanthood, yes, of love!  John 12 as well as Matthew and Mark will tell that the anointment was no ordinary anoint but rather some of the best money could buy.  It was valued at a year’s wages!!!!!

    Her expression of love was, without doubt, EXPENSIVE and EXTRAVAGANT. But for Mary of Bethany, Jesus deserved nothing but the VERY BEST.  And even though the disciples thought it was a waste Jesus commended her and paid her one of the highest honors in that wherever the gospel is preached Mary’s story of extravagant love is to be shared as well. (I fulfill His words with this devotional.)

    May I ask you if you are giving Jesus your best?  
    May I ask you if you are doing something that is extravagant – YES – appearing to be EXCESSIVE for Jesus?  
    Do you worry that family and friends might say THAT IS TOO MUCH?

    Years ago I read a message about Mary of Bethany from Chuck Swindoll and he gave the challenge to BREAK A VASE for Jesus!   Don’t hold back!  After all, He did not hold back.  Talk about extravagant love, He gave His life as a demonstration of His love. 

    Friends, you can never do TOO MUCH for Jesus! 

    To the one who went all in for us, we should go all out for Him. Follow the example of Mary of Bethany!
     
    Verse to DATE the Word on November 2 (11/2) is John 11:2. It says, “It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.”

    Would it not be great that every time someone said your name they thought of something you did for Jesus?

    Continue Strong displaying EXTRAVAGANT Love for Jesus!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

  • Verse to DATE the Word on July 8 (7/8) is Deuteronomy 7:8

    “but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your
    fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you
    from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” – Deuteronomy 7:8
    Our GOD so LOVES US

    Why did God do all that He did for Israel when they were slaves in Egypt?  That is the question being answered in Deuteronomy 7:8. And the answer is: BECAUSE THE LORD LOVES THEM!   Because the Lord LOVED Israel He worked on their behalf and He redeemed them.  Yes, He had made promises to their fathers and was keeping those promises, but the motivation of motivations was His LOVE for them.  

    Maybe today you need to be reminded that GOD LOVES YOU.  Let these verses just wash over afresh and anew.  Let them fill and flood your soul.
    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
    John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
    John 15:9  “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”
    John 15:12  “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
    Ephesians 2:4  “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6  and raised [us] up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus,”
    1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”
    Revelation 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

    These are but a few verses to remind you that GOD LOVES YOU!!  May you today comprehend just HOW MUCH GOD DOES LOVE YOU!  HE SO LOVES YOU!

    Verse to DATE the Word on July 8 (7/8) is Deuteronomy 7:8. It says, “But it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

    Maybe a song is stirring in your heart. maybe you feel like singing, “Oh, how He loves you and me, Oh how He loves you and me. He gave his life, what more could he give? Oh, how He loves you; Oh, how he loves me; Oh, how he loves you and me. Jesus to Calvary did go, His love for sinners to show. What He did there brought hope from despair. Oh, how He loves you; Oh, how he loves me; Oh, how he loves you and me.”

    Continue Strong seeking to truly comprehend how much God loves you,
    And remember to DATE the Word
  • Verse to DATE the Word for May 28 (5/28) is Ephesians 5:28

    Verse to DATE the Word for May 28 (5/28) is Ephesians 5:28

    “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he
    who loves his wife loves himself.”  – Ephesians 5:28

    A Major INSTRUCTION to a Husband

    Some of the most important instructions for a successful marriage are clearly laid out in Ephesians 5:21-33.  No person should enter marriage without knowing God’s instructions. The responsibility of both the husband and the wife is laid out in verse 21 which states, “submitting to one another in the fear of God.”  Starting with this command to both the husband and the wife, we then find within verses 22-33 a variety of other responsibilities for both the husband and wife. The ultimate instruction for the wife comes in verse 33 as Paul sums up all the responsibilities by saying that the wife shows respect or as I like to say, “gives admiration” to her husband. 

    Within verses 22-33, we also find a variety of responsibilities for the husband with verse 33 giving the ultimate instruction as Paul commands the husband to love his wife as himself.  I like to say the husband is to “pay close attentionto her needs.”  

    What is written in verse 33 is basically a repeat of our verse to DATE on 5/28. Eph. 5:28 says, “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.”  What does this mean?  As a man would look after his needs, he is to be focused on looking after the needs of his wife. 

    Husbands are to NOTICE her needs and not NEGLECT her needs. 

    To the husbands (now and those who will be in the future) reading this you better know that God has high expectations and demands for a husband. Your needs are secondary to the needs of your wife and your children. You are to be diligent in looking to their spiritual, physical, and emotional needs.  It is the husband’s responsibility to understand his wife (1 Peter 3:7) and keeps her emotional tank full with encouraging words, words of affirmation, and appreciation.

    JUST A NOTE HERE: While you may expect to go into marriage to get love, the mature man will realize quickly it is your responsibility to GIVE love!! Man up and LOVE your wife and your children!!

    Verse to DATE the Word on May 28 (5/28) is Ephesians 5:28. It says, “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.”

    A marriage works when you work at your marriage.  The role and responsibility of a husband is to PAY ATTENTION to the needs of his wife and MEET THOSE NEEDS!  Meet her needs first and your needs will then be met. 

    Continue Strong being responsible with your responsibilities,
    And remember to DATE the Word

    BTW – you really don’t have to know a lot to have a successful marriage.  4 of the major combination codes are found in Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:33.   Genesis 2:24 tells the couple to LEAVE and CLEAVE!  Ephesians 5:33 tells the husband to PAY ATTENTION to the needs of his wife and for the wife to GIVE ADMIRATION to her husband.

  • Verse to DATE the Word on March 16 (3/16) is John 3:16

    Verse to DATE the Word on March 16 (3/16) is John 3:16

    Our verse to DATE the Word on March 16 (3/16) is John 3:16
    John 3:16 says,  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

    HIS LOVE IS SEEN IN THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE

    Where does one even begin and what does one even say as one looks at the greatest words ever spoken and written? Before us is “the golden text” of Scripture. It is the “greatest verse” in all of the Bible.  It is the summation of the entire message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  It has within it the deepest and most profound theological truths in which a theologian can write volumes on each word yet these 25 words are so simple and easy to read and understand that a 3-year-old can know that God loves them and can save them.   

    What should we know and understand from this verse?  I humbly submit we know and understand the LOVE of God.  To DATE John 3:16 is to understand and comprehend the LOVE of God.  The apostle Paul prayed that we would comprehend the LOVE of God in Ephesians 3 starting at verse 17.  He prayed, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;

    If I want to comprehend the love of Christ and the width of that love and the length of that love and the depth of that love and the height of that love I only have to look at what Jesus said in John 3:16.  Notice how wide and long and deep and high is God’s love for you!

    “For God so loved the world” is the width of His love.  His love is for everyone everywhere.  All humanity from sea to sea and from continent to continent is LOVED by God.  Jesus loves ALL the children of the world.  Red and yellow black and white they are PRECIOUS in His sight!   As His hands were stretched out on the cross it symbolized Him reaching around the world.  His commission is to take the gospel to the world, to the ENDS OF THE EARTH!  How wide is the LOVE of God?  His love is for everyone everywhere who has done everything wrong and against Him.  How wide is the LOVE of God?   It is demonstrated to us in that while we were SINNERS Christ died FOR US – for the ENTIRE WORLD OF SINNERS.

    “That He gave His Only Begotten Son” is the length of His love. The grave penalty for sin is death.  Sin must be punished.  To satisfy the wrath of God there had to be a perfect sacrifice.   Though He had created the universe with all the various elements there was not one thing that could redeem a man.  Peter explained it this way in 1 Peter 1:18 saying, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”  

    Micah asked the rhetorical question “With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”  (Micah 6:6-7)  

    There is nothing in God’s created world that can save sinful man.  So, God has to go the full length of love and give what is most precious to Him and He GIVES His only begotten Son.  

    “That whoever believes in Him should not perish” is the depth of His love.  Romans 5:6 “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Ungodly and sinners represent all the wickedness and unrighteousness and filthiness of mankind.  His love reaches to the vilest of all and pulls them out of the pit of iniquity.  There is no sinner that has gone too far from His reach to keep them from perishing!

    “But have everlasting life” is the height of His love.  He takes the one doomed, destined and deserving of hell who believes in His Son and gives them a home with Him in heaven for all eternity!  
    Verse to DATE the Word on March 16 (3/16) is John 3:16. It says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

    God loves you!  He loves you and everyone in the world.  He loves you even though you are a filthy sinner to GIVE His Only Son for you. He will give His life so He can give you life!  He so loves you He will change your eternal destination from hell to heaven if you will believe!

    Continue Strong knowing and accepting the greatest love you will ever know.  
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

    BTW – let others know about God’s love!  Share John 3:16 with others today!