Tag Archives: The greatest command

Fears Chased Away, Loved to Love, Rooted and Grounded

(The Everlasting Way) Transforming Awareness: The Power of God’s Love

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Raymond had given up. It seems he’d failed at every opportunity in life. Though he was still a young man, his hopes were drained. What he’d always wanted to do was help people, but now he couldn’t even help himself.

His meager inheritance from his dad yielded only enough money for a semester in college. And when he missed the filing deadline to receive a grant, he’d have to drop out and move out of his dorm. 

After receiving the news, he stopped for a while at his mom’s grave, who’d committed suicide when he was seven. Going on in the grave yard, he found his dad’s grave, dug almost a year ago. He was a consummate entrepreneur, always on the brink of something big. He had such high hopes for his latest discoveries and was sure he could use what he’d developed to make a difference, to help those in desperate need. But a stroke cut his life and dreams short. 

Now, his only child was the one in desperate need.

Raymond sat down on a bench, buried his head in his hands and wept. A feeling of emptiness and poverty filled his soul.

“Raymond Anderson?”

Raymond opened his eyes to find an elderly black man standing over him. 

“Yes.”

“Someone instructed me to give you this,” he said, handing Raymond a legal-sized brown envelope.

Raymond received the envelope, noticing there was no return address – just his name.

“Who’s it from?” Raymond asked, looking up. But the man was gone.

He opened the envelope and began to read:

Mr. Raymond Anderson,

I’m delighted to inform you that shortly before your father passed away, a large corporation purchased his patent right out. Based on the terms of the contract and his will, which I drew up for him as his lawyer, you have received $500,000,000 as his sole heir. He has also designated you as his benevolence agent to give away another $500,000,000 to the charities and needs of your choice. Even though this money has been at your disposal for almost a year, your father instructed me to wait until now to let you know.

Please come by my law office as soon as you can so we can meet and begin turning over the funds to you.

Sincerely,
Walter H. James

Being Made Aware

Raymond suddenly became aware of his possessions and grand purpose. This knowledge changed everything about his life. He had a mission he could wake up to every morning.

As believers in Jesus Christ, a change in our awareness could have even greater ramifications on our lives than Raymond had. In our case, what we need to be aware of is beyond change and corruption.

God’s love.

What are some ways that an awareness of God’s love for us can transform our lives?

God’s Love Drives out Fear

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love (I John 4:18).

As I examine my heart, fear is the root of much of my sin. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of poverty. Fear of unhappiness. Fear of . . . 

Fear causes worry and robs me of peace, which is essential. 

In the above verses, John writes about a perfect love flowing from God, which drives out fear. To the degree that we realize God’s amazing love for us, our fears melt away and peace reigns in our hearts.

As I ponder these truths concerning God’s perfect love, different nagging fears come to mind, particularly fear of failure and fear of rejection. These fears have sometimes sent me down destructive paths. But more and more, the reality of a love that literally casts out fear is growing in my heart.

As I write, I imagine a life with no fear. Fearless. Oh, the freedom! Oh, the joy! And it’s not just something to wish for. God’s perfect love is genuine, the destroyer of all fears. 

God’s Love Enables Our Obedience

And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NASB)

These verses summarize the Bible, instructing us first to love.

We love, because He first loved us (I John 4:19).

But our love must originate with His love for us,

Because God loves us, we are able to love Him and others.

God’s love for us empowers and guides us. Like a cart being pulled along by a horse (God’s love), our works of obedience (loving) flow from His love for us.

It’s not the other way around. Our obedience doesn’t gain God’s love. That’s like putting the cart before the horse and horses make terrible cart pushers. 

God’s love for us gives us the ability to obey His commands to love.

God’s Love Roots and Grounds Us

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19 NASB)

God’s love for us surpasses our knowledge. It’s beyond our understanding and our intellect. Paul prays we might grasp the superlative dimensions of God’s love in our hearts. What does not fit in our heads can dwell in our hearts as God is pleased to illuminate it. 

God’s love roots us and grounds us, establishing a firm foundation for our lives. When God’s surpassing love is revealed and made real to us, our souls are increasingly secured against the storms and trials of life.

Prayer

Lord, may my comprehension of Your amazing love for me continue to grow as I bathe in it. Thank You for chasing away my every fear with Your perfect love. Please remind me quickly when fears arise. Thank you that Your love enables me to love You. May I receive Your love and give it away.  Thank You for delighting in being with me. Please help me grasp Your love more and more. Steady my heart on the firm foundation of Your delight in me. Amen.

Reflections

Previously, in Embracing God’s Amazing Love, we established that God’s love for us:

  • Cannot be altered by anything in this world, whether seen or unseen.

  • Motivated Him to rescue us through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ

  • Is modeled by Jesus’ love for us.

In this post we learn that God’s love for us:

  • Chases away ALL our fears

  • Is our source of love, enabling us to love

  • Roots and grounds our soul, no matter what we go through

In today’s world of disunity and hatred, it’s essential to realize God’s love for us every day, in every way

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all referenced Scripture is from the NASB 1995. Photos generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Other posts in our Everlasting Way Series:

Learning How to Overcome Emotional Numbness

Embracing God’s Amazing Love

Are we More Like Batman or Spider-Man

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 

Robby Buck

Nonfiction books by the Author:

This collection of devotionals chronicles a heartfelt journey from a life of striving and self-reliance to one of growing surrender and trust in God.

Through personal stories of family struggles, cancer, grief, and unexpected trials, the devotions show that true, unshakeable joy comes not from perfect circumstances, but from the constant, loving presence of Jesus Christ.

It’s an invitation to learn to let go of our burdens and find growing peace in God’s greater story.

Finding Joy in Life’s Moments

Because joy is rooted in God and is eternal, it doesn’t ebb and flow with the waves of circumstances. In fact, as we grow in our understanding of joy, we can even experience it more acutely when life is hard. Why? Because God uses trials to conform us into the image of Christ. With this awareness, which gives us glimpses of God’s greater purposes, we rejoice because of His masterful work to free us from needing anything but Him.

For these reasons, and many others, joy in the Lord is commanded in scripture. It’s not just a good idea, it’s vital to our journey as human beings. Rhythms of Joy

Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in an old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowingly set off a series of events which uncovers a plot to wipe out a whole family. Hope Remains

Please Check out the  Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.

Loved so we can Love, Loving like Jesus, Remain in His Love

Rhythms: IN (The Cadence of Life)

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Story:

A few years ago a friend of mine shared a secret he’d learned during miles of cycling. “Don’t worry about the miles per hour,” Rick said. “It’s the cadence that matters. If you keep the cadence above 70 or 80, no matter how steep the hills, your miles per hour will take care of itself.”

What Rick told me turned out to be true. I had my bicycle computer set to always show me the Miles Per Hour. I  would strain, sometimes in very hard gears, to maintain my speed even on monster hills. But eventually my legs would wear out.

However, when I changed the computer to show my cadence, I paid attention only to how many times I pedaled in a minute. If it was at least 70 times, shifting gears as needed to accommodate changes in the gradient, my miles per hour worked out better at the end of the ride. It’s the key to endurance cycling.

Note: In the above picture, Rick Velilla is the second biker on the right. He is now with the Lord.

The Cadence of Life

As I think about how watching my cadence led to cycling success, I wonder if there’s a similar focus  for life. Is there a rhythm which can be maintained during the ups and downs of circumstances, that keeps me in God’s will, the same way Rick’s suggestion kept me steady on the inclines of the road?

I think of  Matthew 22:37-40, where Jesus gives us a focus for our lives, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

These two summary commandments, focusing on Love, form a filter for me to run my words and deeds through,

But the kind of love Jesus is talking can’t originate with me.

I John 4:19: “We love because He first loved us.” 

God’s love is the only true love. I can grind out a self serving type of love, straining at the pedals of life, but it’s not pure and it will wear out.

My cadence is to remain in Jesus’ love flowing through me, as Rivers of Living Water, [1] and to love others in the same way He’s loved me. [2] No matter what difficult hills I travel in life, my focus is to be on receiving His love and giving it away.

Receiving God’s Love to Give it Away

Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15:9-12 NASB).

As I look closer at the above verses, the steps of receiving God’s love and giving it away are clearly laid out.

Know His love. Remain in His love. Love other’s as He’s loved me. 

First, I’m to Know how much Jesus loves me. Verse 9 says He loves me as much as God loves Him.  The essence of this truth is beyond my understanding, yet Jesus tells me it’s true.

Lord, this truth is too amazing to fit in my head. Please open the eyes of my heart that I might begin to truly know the vast quality of Your love for me, which is beyond comprehension.  

Then I’m to Remain in the Lord’s love for me. Verse 10 commands me to stay, tarry, abide in Jesus’ great love for me. Abiding is not striving. It’s remaining, not moving from where God originally placed me, in the love of Christ. [3] God did it. I need to rest in what He’s already done.

Lord, please keep me aware that staying in Your love is not something to attain, but something to rest in.  When I’m tricked again into thinking I must perform to earn Your love, please calm my heart. May I continually remain and rest where You’ve placed me, in Your unending love.

And, from verses 10 and 12, I must learn the true cadence of receiving God’s love and giving it away, Loving others as He’s loved me.  This quality of sacrificial love, demonstrated by Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet [4], can only be repeated by me depending on Christ’s Holy Spirit within me. Apart from Him, I can do nothing [5], especially love others.

Lord, truly this is the great cadence of life, receiving Your love, and by Your Spirit, loving others as You’ve loved me. So often I offer a cheap imitation of my own kind of love. When I do this, please shut it down quickly. Loving with my love is only harmful and self serving. But, by allowing you to love through me, You are glorified and my life is filled with Your joy.

Complete Joy

Jesus tells says when I know His love, remain in it and love others as He has loved me, I will have His joy.

As we look at Jesus’ life, we see love tightly coupled with joy.

. . . Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of Go (Hebrews 12:2b NASB).

 It was His love for us, and the prize of our reconciliation with Him, which gave Jesus a joy, which fueled His endurance on the cross.   

It’s this quality of joy which accompanies our receiving His love and giving it away, a joy which completes us.

Conclusion

There’s a command Jesus gave His disciples, after He washed their feet and before He endured the cross. He called it a new commandment and He gave it twice:

 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35 NASB).

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15:12 NASB)

Resting in the love of Jesus, we, in turn, love others. The great cadence of life. Receiving His love and giving it away.

If this rhythm of love is locked into our minds, the result will be far better than if we focus on the circumstances of our lives.

Prayer

Lord, you’ve given me a new commandment which seems to sum up Your desires for me. By Your strength and guidance, I ask You to allow me to obey this as the foremost focus of my life. Please show me quickly when I deviate and lose the cadence of receiving Your love and giving it away.

Thank you, that in obeying Your new commandment, I remain in Your love and experience Your joy.

I  love You Lord.

 Amen.

Personal Study

The Daily L.O.V.E. Examen

In order to LOVE those close to me, I need to regularly examine my interactions with them. The LOVE Examen is a daily contemplation of my relationships and conversations to see if I need to seek reconciliation or forgiveness. This is how God grows my character.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there is any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:23-24 NASB).

 Listen   Did I  Listen attentively today to what was said and unspoken?

Open     Was I open and vulnerable in my interactions with others today?

Value    Did I  value the thoughts & opinions of others in my conversations?

Examine  “Lord, examine my heart for any way I didn’t love well today.”

[1] John 7:38

[2] John 13:34-35

[3] I Corinthians 1:30

[4] John 13

[5] John 15:5

Previous posts in the Rhythms series:

God’s Amazing Love

God’s Essential Love

What Hides God’s Love

Christ Lives in Me

Raised up with Christ

Who’s your Treasure?

Obtaining the Joy of Jesus 

Orienting Life from Above

When Things Get Hard

Communing with God

Please Check out the new Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child with the gospel.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

 

Choosing our Affection

Our Affections Affect Us (Whether We Realize it or Not)

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Jimmy

Jimmy looked at his watch again as he anxiously waited outside the director’s office. In a few moments he would find out who was going to be the manager of the new IT department. Did he get the job or did Kevin?  Becoming a manager was real important to him, not only because it would make him feel successful, but he desperately needed the extra money.  He’d maxed out his credit cards due to unexpected repairs and unwise financial choices.

“I’m sorry, Jimmy,” his director said. “We believe Kevin has demonstrated what we need for this position. Keep working hard and you can apply for future opportunities.”

The news crushed  Jimmy. His anger quickly escalated. “I think you’re making a mistake,” he barked. “Kevin….

Jimmy went on to untruly attack Kevin’s character, putting into jeopardy his own hope for future promotions.

Jimmy’s affection to appear successful and to have more money influenced him into making very poor choices.

Our English word ‘affection’ is derived from the Latin ‘afficere’, which means to influence. The definition of ‘affection’ is a fond feeling, a liking or caring about someone or something.

What We Value, Strongly Affects Our Choices

Take a look around you? Check your heart. What do you care about? Is it possessions, achievements, happiness, relationships? Chances are there’s a mixture.

We care about people, so we choose to be kind.

We want to be successful, so we work diligently.

We favor order over kayos, so we choose to maintain our possessions and to take care of important responsibilities.

These are positive examples, but like Jimmy, we can harm ourselves and others by valuing something too much.

Personally, I’ve cared way too much for smooth circumstances over the years. Looking back, I see how this affection, adversely affected my life and those around me. I sometimes choose to move quickly through difficult trials, denying their gravity. I wanted to get back to feeling ‘okay’.  However, what I didn’t realize was how this quick dismissal of hard circumstances left emotional pain unattended, both in me and in others.

One true Affection will Always Affect Our Lives in Positive Ways. 

What I’m realizing is that there is one true affection which will always affects our lives in positive ways. It can become the great filter for everything which passes through our lives.

Jesus told Martha that her sister, Mary, had chosen the one thing which was necessary.[1]

In Psalm 27, David asked one thing as a life’s request:  to dwell close to God, to behold his beauty and feast upon his nearness.[2]

One Thing – Loving and worshipping God.

Jesus confirmed this longing when he said,  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”  Matthew 22:37-38

In telling us this, Jesus gave us a primary affection to govern all lesser affections.

One Great, Primary Affection

Loving God with all our heart.

Our love for God begins deep within, from our hearts, ‘the spring of our life.’[3]  But any love we have for God must stem from His love for us. We love because he first love.[4]

Loving God with all our soul.

Our soul – our mind, will, and emotions. Our thoughts and feelings can deceive us. God’s great love for us can be hidden. We must choose the truth of what God says about us, over and above our feelings and our thoughts.

Loving God with all our might.

Loving God with all our might means more than just loving him with all  our strength. It means loving him with all we have at our disposal – “with everything we have available for honoring God — which includes our spouse, our children, our house or dorm room, our pets and wardrobe and tools and cell phones and movies and music and computers and time.” [5]

Loving God Overflows into What We Do

When Jesus added, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets,”[6] we see the first influence of our affection for God.

If we love God, we will love people. And if we love people, all  lesser affections will play out in loving ways.

Kevin

Kevin heard about Jimmy’s outburst in the director’s office. He felt really hurt. He considered Jimmy a friend.

Kevin crafted an e-mail to Jimmy defending himself and telling him how hurtful his words were. He read through it and changed it several times. However, he didn’t send it.

Kevin was trying to live his live through the filter of his affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted every word and action to reflect his love for God and his love for the people in his life.

He choose to not be offended by what Jimmy had done. He agonized with God about how hurt he was.

Later, Kevin was able to see Jimmy’s pain in not getting the job. He asked God to show him what loving Jimmy would look like.

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for clearly giving us a great affection which influences every part of our lives. Like Kevin, teach us to allow our choices to flow out of our love for you.

Please help us know your love for us. Destroy anything that blocks it. May we walk around completed surrendered to your extravagant love.

Please teach us how to love you with all our hearts, all our souls and all our might.

Amen.

[1] Luke 10:41-42

[2] Psalm 27:4

[3] Proverbs 4:23

[4] I John 4:19

[5] Loving God with Your Everything  by Jason DeRouchie,  www.desiringgod.org/articles/love-god-with-your-everything

[6] Matthew 22:40

Rick Velilla is the second biker on the right. He is now with the Lord.

The Cadence of Life (Receiving God’s love and Giving it Away)

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As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:9-12

A few years ago a friend of mine shared a secret he had learned during miles of cycling. “Don’t worry about the miles per hour,” Rick said. “It’s the cadence that matters. If you keep the cadence above 70 or 80, no matter how steep the hills, your miles per hour will take care of itself.”

What Rick told me turned out to be true. I had my bicycle computer set to always show me the Miles Per Hour. I  would strain, sometimes in very hard gears, to maintain my speed even on monster hills. But eventually my legs would wear out.

However, when I changed the computer to show my cadence, I paid attention only to how many times I pedaled in a minute. If it was at least 70 times, shifting gears as needed to accommodate changes in the gradient, my miles per hour worked out better at the end of the ride. It’s the key to endurance cycling.

As I think about how watching my cadence led to cycling success, I wonder if there’s a  cadence I can  focus on that will assist me in life. I want to be able to turn the computer of my life to a cadence which can be maintained during the ups and downs of life the way Rick’s suggestion kept me steady even during steep inclines in the road.

I think of  Matthew 22:37-40, where Jesus gives us a focus for our lives, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love. The Beatles had it right. All we need is Love. 

Love is to be the focus of our lives. Jesus says it summarizes the entire Bible,  forming  a  filter for our every word and deed.

But how?

As I ask the question, I get my answer.

I John 4:19: “We love because He first loved us.” 

God’s love is the only true love. I can grind out a human love by straining at the pedals of life, but my love will wear out.

My cadence is to be His love flowing through me, as Rivers of Living Water flowing from my innermost being. (John 7:38)  Receiving His love and giving it away. In spite of life’s difficulties, I’m to love God first and then my neighbor, but with His love, not mine.

And Jesus tells me how to do this in John 15:9-12.

  1. Know how much Jesus loves me. Verse 9 says He loves me as much as God loves Him.  The essence of this truth is beyond my understanding, yet Jesus tells me it’s true.
  2. Remain in His great love. Verse 10 commands me to stay, tarry, abide in God’s great love for me, not moving from where God has placed me in the love of Christ.
  3. Love as I have loved you.  Verses 10 and 12  tell me how to remain in His love. I’m to be caught up in the cadence of loving others as He has loved me, allowing His love to flow through me to others.
  4. My joy is completed.  Jesus says when I know his love, remain in it and love others as He has loved me, I will have His joy, fulfilling all my inner longings.

Receiving His love and giving it away.

Lord, thank you for showing me the great focus of my life, knowing your great love, remaining in it and loving others with it. I need you to maintain this as my focus. I so easily shift into a mode of worrying about all that has to be done.

Yet, I know now that by receiving your love and giving away it away, all you need me to accomplish will get done. I believe this, yet I forget it so easily. Please help me live out this cadence of love moment by moment and day by day. Amen.