SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/22/2019 10:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “The Plea”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 5:1-2a
Message
of the verses: “1 So then you should try to become like God, for you are
his children and he loves you. 2 Live your lives in love,” (Phillips).
We continue to talk about love,
God’s love for others and also our love for others. MacArthur comments “Just as the depth of God’s
love is shown by how much He has forgiven, the depth of our love is shown by
how much we forgive.” Peter writes the
following in 1 Peter 4:8 “8 Above all, keep fervent
in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” MacArthur talks about the word “fervent” “The
Greek word behind ‘fervent’ refers to a muscle stretched to the limit. Our love is to stretch to the limit in order to cover ‘a multitude of
sins.’ The greater our love the
greater the multitude of sins it will cover in forgiveness.”
As we
think about the depth of our love it can also be seen by how much that we
realize how much we have been forgiven.
The word that comes to mind in thinking about how much I have been
forgiven is the word “ALL.” All means “everything.” There is a story found in the gospel of Luke
7:36-47, and if I am not mistaken, and I’m not Joseph Stowell wrote a book
entitled “Why It’s Hard to Love Jesus”, and the book is based on Luke
7:36-47. We will look at that passage at
this time.
“36 Now one
of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the
Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And there was a woman in
the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the
table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38
and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet
with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His
feet and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had
invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet He
would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that
she is a sinner." 40 And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something
to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." 41 “A
moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other
fifty. 42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So
which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered and said, "I
suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have
judged correctly." 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do
you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but
she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 “You gave
Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has
not ceased to
kiss My feet. 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet
with perfume. 47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have
been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves
little.’”
In
Stowell’s book he writes in the preface about a concert that he went to where
the “Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir” was singing, and he mentions a song being sung entitle
“I’m Not Afraid Anymore,” and the man who sang the song was a person who lived
in the city of Brooklyn doing crack cocaine.
He had a young daughter who witnessed to him and the result was that he
gave his heart to the Lord, and thus was not afraid of that old lifestyle
anymore because of His great love for His Savior. He had been down to the pit of Hell and Jesus
brought him up so that he now sings for the cause of Christ. His story is similar to the woman in the
story that Luke tells. Both the singer
and the woman were forgiven much, and thus they loved much. I think that it would be easier for each of
them to forgive others of doing them wrong than a person who had not lived the
lifestyle that they lived, but that is no excuse for any believer not to
forgive others for wrong doings. As
mentioned in an earlier SD it is harder, in most cases for the person who does
not forgive than the person that they need to forgive.
John
MacArthur concludes this section by writing “The person who sees the greatness of his own forgiveness
by God’s love will himself in love be forgiving. He forgives in love because his heavenly
Father has forgiven in love and he desires to be an imitator of His Father.”
If
for some reason you think that perhaps you deserve the salvation that Jesus
Christ offers, then it will probably be harder for you to forgive others, but
if you really realize that there is no way, that on your own you can get to
heaven, then perhaps it will be easier to love the Lord and be thankful for the
wonderful salvation that He has given you, and then be willing to forgive those
who sin against you. Paul’s plea
concerning love is loud and clear in this short section of his letter to the
Ephesians.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I desire to be more thankful for what the
Lord has done for me, and desire also to be more forgiving to others,
especially those I come in contact on the roads as I drive.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I truly desire to not only be a humble
person, but to continue to learn more about true humility.
The quotation for today is from Thomas
Carlyle who said “Silence is the element in which great things fashion
themselves.”
5/22/2019 11:23 AM
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