Blog Archives

Love and Care

5/27/2016

‘Love’ has become an ordinary word. We love a song, a story, a movie, a car, a person, a pet, a memory… Love has been emasculated and demoted; it has become a soft word, a feel good word.

In the kingdom of God it is different. Jesus gives substance and depth to the word, “This is how you love!.”

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that." Luke 6: 32

If my definition of love is to feel good or like someone or something, then I will not love as Jesus loves.

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, …” Luke 6:35-36

God’s love is a call to action.
It is a command to care for the well being of another; whether it is a friend or an enemy, there is no exception. This is unfamiliar and strange to the world. This love sets you apart.

It’s a love that prefers others, sees more in others, hopes more for others than for oneself.
This is the love that sees God in those who live in our every moments.
This is the love that changes the world, because it moves through the Father’s heart.
This is a love that is not often seen. A love that lays down its life so that others may have life and have it to the fullest.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18

Jesus tells us to love our enemy, the person who damages us, the one who slanders us, the one who hurts us, robs us, violates us.

This is not a feel good action, but a step into holiness and redemption for the sake of the offender.

“God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. This is how love has been perfected among us:…” 1 John 4:16-17

To truly love and care unconditionally requires the presence of God in our hearts. If we don’t care, or fail to see the offender as worthy of God’s love, we don’t have His presence fully in us.

0 Comments

John, the son of Zechariah

5/20/2016

0 Comments

“And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”
Luke 1:80

He lived away from the people; in the separation he learned to hear the voice of God and become strong in spirit.
To grow in the spirit we need a place of solitude to have the freedom, the space, to listen and hear—a place where everyday distractions are minimal.

To learn the "sound" of the Spirit, we need time to discern the still quiet voice that whispers to us in the silence. That is how the prophet heard.

“The Lord said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.”

We are familiar with powerful winds, (noise, confusion) the earthquakes, (chaos, fears) and fires, (discomfort). We have tuned, adjusted our ears to noise and we learned to ignore or even shut out the quiet.
“Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” 1 Kings 19:11-13

We live in a world where we cannot seem to live without distracting sounds; silence has become uncomfortable.

But we need silence to hear His whisper.
We need the quiet voice to instruct us and warn us.

Steeped in religion, John’s parents taught him well. He knew his calling for great things, but he needed to hear from God.
In the wilderness he learned to hear and trust.
There he learned what no man could teach him: to live in the presence of God.

The quiet, silent place renews our spirit as it comes into communion in prayer with the one who speaks life into every part of our being.

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

We need a quiet place. A place to listen and hear.

0 Comments

Shadows

5/14/2016

0 Comments

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. John 3:20

We may not live in darkness, but we do tend to like the shadows, the place where we can conceal our weakness and sin. We fear exposure of those past or present bondages; in the shadows we hope to keep them hidden.

Fear is uncomfortable. We learn to live with it, but the cost of the cover shadows provide is high: loneliness, isolation and the lie we must then live. In the shadows we cease being real.
In the shadow we live in confusion, insecurity and doubt, never fully trusting and never truly seeing each other.
In the shadows we learn to live with suspicion and limitations. It is where we learn to survive by relying on our understanding and “street smarts.”
Apart from the light and the life in Christ Jesus, we stumble in darkness.
These were the circumstance into which Jesus came to save us.
John 1:9

He came to save the world from darkness, by being a light from the Father.
He came to expose that which keeps us lurking the shadows.
He came to set us free from the sin and shame that keeps us from being fully alive.
He came to bring us into the light and the love of God.
He became the way out of the shadows into the light that freed us from sin and condemnation.

"While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9:5

He commands us to do the same—be his light, his presence and his hope for a world in darkness as we walk in his Spirit.

“You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14

0 Comments

Thinking Out Loud

These are short meditations on some of the thoughts and ideas we receive as we read, study or ponder the things of God.
They are short blogs meant to cause us to think, explore, meditate or simply delight in the things of the Lord.

Author

In a counseling career spanning over 30 years, author and teacher Martin Frankena has shared the life-changing power of Christ’s redemption with individuals and churches in America, Canada, South America, and Europe. Martin's heart is to further the Lord’s mandate of releasing people into freedom from bondages to experience greater wholeness and fulfillment in life. A major focus of the ministry is healing from generational issues.

Thinking out loud

Love and Care

John, the son of Zechariah

Shadows

Thinking Out Loud

These are short meditations on some of the thoughts and ideas we receive as we read, study or ponder the things of God.
They are short blogs meant to cause us to think, explore, meditate or simply delight in the things of the Lord.

Author

Archives

Categories

Thinking out loud

Love and Care

Joh﻿n, the son of Zechariah

Shadows

Thinking Out LoudThese are short meditations on some of the thoughts and ideas we receive as we read, study or ponder the things of God.They are short blogs meant to cause us to think, explore, meditate or simply delight in the things of the Lord.Author

Archives

Categories

John, the son of Zechariah

Thinking Out Loud

These are short meditations on some of the thoughts and ideas we receive as we read, study or ponder the things of God.
They are short blogs meant to cause us to think, explore, meditate or simply delight in the things of the Lord.

Author