Verse of the Month
“May You hear in Heaven, Your dwelling place, and
may You forgive, act, and repay the man, according to all his ways, since You
know his heart,
for You alone know every human heart.”
for You alone know every human heart.”
(1 Kings 8:39 HCSB)
February 8th – 14th
Scripture
Reading: Philippians 1:1-11
The True Nature of
Christian Love
Have
you ever felt like escaping to a place where you can hide from all your
troubles? I can say with confidence that
more than likely you have.
There
was a traveling preacher who was in-between engagements and feeling a bit weary. One day when he was out of town dining in a
restaurant a stranger approached his table.
Leaning
over the minister’s shoulder the stranger quietly said to him,
“I just
want you to know. When you are having a very bad day,
feeling down
in the dumps and when you want to quit, remember
there is a man who prays for
you every day - I love you.”
The
famous minister never forgot this expression of love from a brother in Christ
he had never met. It not only lifted his spirit that day, but it also changed
his life.
What
happened that day is evidence of what is true for a believer in Jesus. Prayer is a key expression of love, but not
just any ordinary kind of love. This gentleman had the God kind of love in his
heart, Agape love.
Within
the Christian faith we understand that Agape
love is the highest form of love there is, because it stems from God and how He
feels regarding mankind. The Apostle
Paul prayed that the Church would abound in this kind of love in loving one
another as Christ loves us.
The
stranger in this story certainly knew the true nature of Christian love, by the
way he continually upheld the minister in prayer daily. His encouragement shaped and formed the way the
traveling preacher conducted his messages and how he interacted with the Body
of Christ.
Scripture
tell us that we are to pray for one another, but do we? Passion for God is revealed in our prayers,
and it also shows what is in our heart.
Paul
prayed passionately for those he loved in the Lord. He prayed that their love,
the Agape God kind of love, would develop in knowledge of God and would be revealed
through the Holy Spirit in their relationship with Him. It’s through that revelation that we learn
how to pray for one another as Christ instructed His Church.
Beloved,
if you love someone pray for them and don’t ever quit praying. You never know
how far that prayer may travel to encourage someone.
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more
and more
in knowledge
and all discernment, that you may approve the
things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and
without
offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the
fruits of righteousness which are by
Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.”
(Philippians 1:9-11 NKJV)
February 8th –
14th Daily Bible Reading
10)
Exodus 3-4; Psalm 41
11)
Hebrews 7-8; Exodus 5-6
12)
Hebrews 9; Exodus 7-8
13)
Exodus 9-10; Proverbs 1-3
14)
Hebrews 10; Exodus 11-12
Daily
Readings are designed to read through the entire Bible in one year.
An outreach ministry of Shield of Faith Family & Youth
Ministries®,Inc.
Copyright SOFFY Ministries/Pastor Cher. Do Not Copy. Photo credit by SOFFY Ministries unless otherwise noted. This artwork is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
Copyright SOFFY Ministries/Pastor Cher. Do Not Copy. Photo credit by SOFFY Ministries unless otherwise noted. This artwork is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
Scripture from the KJV/NKJV of the Bible unless noted. Scripture
from: Bible Gateway. Image
Bible, Bible in One Year Reading Schedule, Faith Moments, Faith Moments
Devotional, Inspirational Reading, Read through the Bible in One Year, Shield
of Faith Family and Youth Ministries, Prayer, The True Nature of Christian Love, Love
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