Saturday, January 31, 2015

1 Peter 1:22 Inductive Bible Study Devotional: Love 1/29

1 Peter 1:22 says, "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently, with a pure heart."

I can't love someone sincerely on my own. Not with true agape love. If I try to love on my own, I will always be looking for what I can get out it. I will be counting the cost of the love. That’s not sincere. That’s not agape. That’s not the love that my Savior has for me and it's not the love that I'm supposed to have for others. Fake love is not sincere love. Sometimes I find myself falling in the trap of judging people without even thinking about it but to someone's face I pretend to love. That's not sincere. That's not even love.

When I obey the truth(the Bible) that God has given me through the Holy Spirit, my heart and soul are purified and I have the ability to love others with a sincere and passionate love that I can only have through Christ. I can't attain this type of love through my own actions and strength. This is a love only God can give.

Sincere agape love is hard because it can hurt. When you pour into others and don't count the cost of the love, you are going to get hurt eventually because we are humans and we hurt each other. Sometimes the people that we love so dearly make decisions that eventually end up hurting them and seeing them hurts you just like with Paul and the Corinthians(2 Corinthians 2:4). I made this point earlier in the week but God wouldn't ask me to do something that He hasn't first done. Christ knows the pain of love firsthand better than we ever could. Loving us caused him physical pain and torture and death. Loving us actually caused Him to have to be separated from His Father for a time in death.

I want to sincerely love out of a pure heart. I want to love without counting the cost. I want to fervently love like my Heavenly Father loves.

Application:

I want to make sure that I am sincerely loving and not just pretending. I will tape James 4:12 to my bed post so that I will remember to sincerely love my brothers and sisters and not judge.

Romans 13:10 Inductive Bible Study Devotional: Love 1/28

Romans 13:10 says, "Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."

Galatians 5:14-15 says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another."

Philippians 2:3-4 says, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

Colossians 3:12 says, "Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

We live in a selfish world. Everyone cares about their own wants and never even for a second considers someone else's needs before their own. We do what we want without ever giving a second thought to how it could effect someone else. We are human. We are broken. We are selfish. This also means that hurting others is part of our nature.

Jesus was our perfect example of love. He had all the power of heaven on His side but even while being mocked, wrongfully accused, beaten and ultimately crucified by the people he was doing it for, He never even spoke up against them. He could have stopped it. He could have hurt them back. But He was silent and loving.

Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are not held under the law. But if we love God, everything that flows from us fulfills the law. Our actions won't fulfill the law because we feel obligated but because we love God and we love each other and our interests line up with God's interests.

I try to think of others first and be loving but when it comes down to it, I have realized that I can be pretty selfish. I love myself a lot. I'm human. I like being at the front of the line. I like being right. I like going first. I like being heard. But if I am loving my neighbor more than myself, it is impossible to be selfish at the same time. If I look out for others needs, interests and wants before my own, I can't be thinking of myself. It just doesn’t work. If I am focused on loving someone, I cannot hurt them. I just can't. If I'm praying for someone, I won't even be able to be frustrated at them.

I don't want to hurt others with my words or my actions. I want to reflect Jesus in everything that I say and do. I want to be a humble servant as He was. He had all the power in the world yet came not to be served but to serve(John 13:). I want to be like that. I want to be like my Jesus.

Application:
Today, I will memorize Colossians 3:12 and I will be praying to be clothed in kindness and humility so that I can uplift others and not tear them down.

2 Corinthians 2:4 Inductive Bible Study Devotional: Love 1/27

2 Corinthians 2:4 says, "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you."

Paul was broken-hearted when he wrote the church of Corinth in correction because He loved them so much. He wanted them to be right with God because he loved them. He cried for them. He didn't write to them because he wanted to make them angry or grieve them but because he wanted them to understand how much He loved them. Paul demonstrated the godly love that he wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13. He was patient with them. He was humble. He wasn't looking out for his best interest but for theirs. Paul modeled, on a small scale, Christ's love for them.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone you love so dearly was suffering and you were unable to be there physically for them? You wish so badly that you could control the situation and make it all better and save them from any more pain. But for some reason, God might have you removed right now. That can hurt you so much. All that you are able to do is love them from far away. One of the hardest things can sometimes be not even having information on what is going on but just having to pray that that person is okay. But then you might need to just sit back and listen to yourself and how silly that sounds. Prayer is our most powerful tool! Why do we feel so powerless? Our Abba Daddy is holding that sweet friend so close. What more could we ask for?

So if you have been in that situation, you may understand just a little bit of what Paul was feeling when he wrote Corinth. He loved them so much that it hurt him. He was correcting them not out of anger but out of love and kindness. It really does hurt when someone you love so dearly does something that hurts them. You just wish you could fix it for them. Or take the pain on yourself.

I imagine that this is probably how God feels when his children stray over and over and over again. He loves us so much that He gave His Son to die for us on a cross for our sins so that we may have eternal life. Yet we still choose the world. We still choose the pain and suffering and chains although He offers us freedom in exchange for His only begotten Son. It cost Him everything and it costs us nothing but our life(Luke 17:33). What a great and beautiful love. How sad is it that so many of us choose the chains of this world over the freedom that God offers(John 8:34-36)?

Application:

Today, I will tape 2 Corinthians 2:4 to my bedside table so that when I see it, it reminds me to pray for the same type of love that Paul had for Corinth.

1 John 4:10 Inductive Bible Study Devotional: Love 1/26

1 John 4:10 says, "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins."

1 John 2:2 says, "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

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."

1 Peter 5:6-7 says, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

This is the definition of love, we didn't even love God but that didn't matter; He loved us so much anyways that He sent His only Son to win our favor, to bless and pardon us, simply because He loves us.

So I am a sinner. Shocker, I know. But you see, what absolutely blows my mind is that God loves me. The God of the universe that spoke the world into existence and meticulously designed the human cells and the atmosphere and perfectly positioned the planets, cares about me.(1 Peter 5:7)  I don’t know why, I just know that He does. And what's even more amazing is that He loved me first. He knew that I would sin. He knew that I would fall away from Him, even when I knew that He loved me. But still He chose to love me and to give up His one and only Son to forgive my sins.

I cannot even express how much this humbles me. But still I mess up all the time. I trip and fall. And He keeps on loving. He keeps on caring. He keeps on forgiving. And this isn't just a promise for me. This is for the whole world! I can't do anything to be worthy of the love that He has given me. It doesn't matter how much I serve or give or lay down my life, I wouldn't be able to earn this perfect love, yet He gives it so freely.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called Children of God! (1 John 3:1) How unworthy am I to be called a child of God? But get this, God's Son was given as a gift to remove His wrath from me(propitiation). It was explained to me like this: Imagine two cliffs and on one cliff is God and on the other cliff is me. There is a huge gap in the middle and there is no way for me to get across to God. But then Jesus steps in as the bridge so that I can get to God. He lays down His life so that I can be forgiven and have eternal life. How insane is that? 

So, God has this great love for me but I have a hard time loving my friends over really petty things like when they leave hair in the drain. How selfish am I? What gives me the right to be upset over that? I want to agape love like my Daddy loves. I want to get to be able to honestly say that I would lay down my life for someone no matter what they have done to me.(John 15:13)

Application:

Today, I am going to write down 1 John 4:10 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 on pieces of paper and tape them to the inside of my wardrobe so that every time I open it, I am reminded of God's amazing love for me and how I am supposed to love others. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Inductive Bible Study Devotional 1/25

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away."

1 John 4:7-8 says "Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

Matthew 22:37-39 says, "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

This last week has been kind of difficult and very humbling. I was told by a couple of new friends that I apparently have an attitude problem. I tend to think I'm always right which means that I can be pretty sassy. Well, I never really knew this was an issue until now. Let me tell you, being confronted with the fact that you aren't quite as humble as you always thought you are really bites. But as I analyze myself, I saw that they were right. And I realized that there are a lot of areas in my life that I need to improve on. I never thought I was perfect, but being here has really made me aware of the fact that I'm not as Christ-like as I thought.

Ok back to the verses; so if God is love(1 Jn 4:7-8), than these verses describe the character of God and His heart towards us(1 Cor 13:4-8) and then also how we should treat each other(Matt 22:39). God won't ask anything of us that He hasn't first demonstrated. These are things I need to work towards becoming, because ultimately, my goal is to be like Christ. I need to be patient. I need to love even when it hurts like Christ loved me even when He was tortured and crucified. I need to work on humility and kindness and being content always, even when I don’t feel like it.

I need to always look out for others needs before my own. I need to be slow to anger. I need to never think evil but only what's pure and true. I need to remember to not rejoice in sin but be so joyful in things that are true and right. Even though that might sound weird, I think it means that the things of the world can sometimes be "fun" or distracting but we need to remember to rejoice when truth triumphs.

I need to carry others when they can't walk anymore. I need to believe and hope the best in people and in situations. I think this means giving them the benefit of the doubt. I need to willingly suffer whatever is needed for someone else. I need to do my best to always be there for others and not fail them. I know I will fail because I am human, but again, my ultimate goal is to be like my Savior.


So now for application. More than just saying I need to get better at being those things and being more Christ-like, I need to figure out how I can get better at those things. Lately, I have been trying to find a verse that relates to the situation that I am dealing with, memorizing it and then whenever I recognize that a situation comes up where I am not being Christ-like in the area that relates to that verse, I remember it and recite it. So for today the one that I am memorizing is James 1:19. 

Friday, January 2, 2015

New Year, New Adventure... IGNITE 2015




     Okay friends, if you've been around me at all in the past two years, you most likely know that I have been trying to to be involved in the Potter's Field Ministries IGNITE Internship Program since I graduated high school in June of 2013. There have been many bumps in the road in the past year and a half including financial issues and injury but as I write this, I am excited to share that I am exactly a week away from leaving for Guatemala to begin my Internship!
     Once I land in Guatemala on the 10th, the Program will begin on Monday, January 12th. Your prayers are so appreciated as I start this new adventure that will no doubt change my life. Here's a brief summary of what I will be doing while I'm gone if you haven't seen my blog until now:
     I have felt called to be involved in missions since I was a little girl and so, to hear about an opportunity like IGNITE was an answer to prayer. IGNITE Mission Training School is a training ground for young adults to become closer to Jesus in every way and bless others in the process. IGNITE is a yearlong missions internship in which students go to a training program in Antigua, Guatemala for three months and are then transferred to one of the various PFM stations in Africa, Central America, or Southeast Asia for 6 months where they serve in the missions field through helping local pastors, and loving on the children at the Potter’s Field Kids(PFK) programs. Students then go to the PFM Headquarters in Montana for a one month debriefing and reentry program and upon completion they will then return home and finish the IGNITE process by serving for two months at their home church wherever needed.
     While my hip pain has gotten better, it is not completely healed so I ask that you would please pray that I would be able to do everything that is asked of me this year. If you could also pray that what sometimes seem to be ever-present headaches would give me more of a break so that I can give all of my attention to God's plan for this year and not the pain.
     I have been so especially blessed this past year, between having an amazing family to live with, a great job, being taken care of financially for my trip, God's protection from more injuries and countless other blessings.
     I love you all and am so thankful for the support that I have received thus far, and I am pressing forward onto whatever adventure God has for me.
     Thank you for tuning in on this crazy ride I call my life, and I will keep updating my blog and Facebook throughout this year that I am gone.

~ His servant,
MaKayla


If you're new to this blog and what I am doing with IGNITE, please check out my other posts.

"Here am I! Send me!" - Isaiah 6:8
Check out the IGNITE website to see what it's all about:
http://www.pottersfield.org/10477/content/content_id/251896/What-is-IGNITE
Like my missions page on Facebook to get more updates: MaKayla's Mission Possible on Facebook
Contact me at my email address, which I will have access to this year: makaylaisross@gmail.com