It All Depends on Love

John 3:16 (NET) - For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

The season of Lent began on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

Incidentally, February 14 also happened to be St. Valentine’s Day, a day set aside for the celebration of love.

Setting aside human notions of romance for the moment, it seems fitting that both fell on the same day.

The verse above is one of the most widely memorized passages in all of scripture.

Rightly so, for it reminds us of just how much God loves each of us.

So much so that He gave His Only Son to save the world.

Scripture also has a great deal more to say about love.

1 John 4:19 (NET) - We love because he loved us first.

This is quite profound but there is still more.

1 John 4:20 (NET) - If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

This reminds us that only those who love their fellow man can truly say that they love God.

Granted, this is not always easy for us to do.

But the season of Lent reminds us of what God did to prove His love for us.

It also reminds us of the love Jesus has for us as well.

Jesus was mocked, beaten and crucified for us.

He also forgave those who inflicted these things upon Him.

If Jesus could forgive so much, should we be unwilling to forgive others of so little?

The essence of Christianity is two-fold.

God the Father creates, His Son redeems and the Holy Spirit makes holy.

Our response to God and to our fellow man must be rooted in faith, hope and love.

Faith is a wonderful thing to possess.

Who among us does not like to have hope.

But scripture reminds us that love is greater than faith and hope.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NET) - And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

As our journey through Lent continues, let us be reminded of the love extended to us.

Let us also be mindful that love is a gift that is best when it is shared.

With Blessings and LOVE,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, February 23, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, March 2, 2018

The Ultimate Self-Help Book

It seems as if more and more people want to feel better about themselves.

In a trip to the library or bookstore there are shelves full of self-help books.

This is nothing new.

Some of the titles have been around for a long time.

There is one book that can help.

Many people already have this book on a table or in a bookshelf.

Unfortunately, this book often goes disregarded and unread.

This book tells us that we were created in the very likeness of God.

Genesis 1:26 (NET) - Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”

Think about that for a moment.

You were made in the very image of the creator of the universe!

It goes on to tell us just how miraculous each one of us really is.

David understood that.

Psalm 139”13-15 (NET) - Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb. I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew me thoroughly; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was made in secret and sewed together in the depths of the earth.

That’s not all.

It tells us that God has had a plan for us all along.

He made that clear to the prophet Jeremiah,

Jeremiah 1:5 (NET) - “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

When you need to feel better about yourself, there is one book that can really help.

Why not turn to it now?

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, February 9, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, February 16, 2018