Love Yourself so you can Love Other People

Love Yourself so you can Love Other People.

Ephesians 5

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

One of the main ways to love yourself is to look after yourself.

Take care of your body.

Look after your personal hygiene, look after your clothes.

If you cannot do that for yourself, you do not think you are worthy.

If you are not worth looking after, you will not believe that I am worth looking out for either.

Do you make the best of yourself?

If you don't - we already know you don't love yourself.

So the sad thing is - we will never expect to receive love from you.

Love Your Neighbour As Yourself.

Love Your Neighbour As Yourself. Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. (Nine times in the Bible) The Ten Commandments. 1 You shall have no other gods before Me. 2 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, to bow to it. 3 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 4 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5 Honour your father and your mother. 6 You shall not murder. 7 You shall not commit adultery. 8 You shall not steal. 9 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. 10 You shall not covet. 3 commandments about God 1 commandment about the Sabbath 1 commandment about your parents 5 commandments about your neighbour. All the law is built around those last five commandments. If you love your neighbour you will not sin against them. Yet we cannot love our neighbour if we don't love ourself.

Love Covers Sin.

Love Covers Sin. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Should we not treat other people with the same rule that God used toward us? We can love people who are sinners without loving their sin. We are encouraged again in 1 Peter 4:8; And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

God Is Love.

God Is Love. 1 John 4:7-8 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. When we love one another, we demonstrate God to them because He is love. Father God is not just a loving person, He is love itself. We can replace the word God anywhere in the Bible with the word Love. Look at Revelation 19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of Love. When we love one another it shows the world that we know God.

Love Is Giving.

Love Is Giving. John 3:16 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. Love gives without asking anything in return. Love is the desire to benefit others at the expense of self, because love desires to give. (Dr Edwin Louis Cole.) If it does not include expense of self, it is not love. Jesus desired to benefit you at the expense of Himself, because love (God) desired to give Jesus as a sacrifice for you.

Are you free?

Are you free?

People can see if you are free or not.

Psalm 126:1-2  When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them.

Once they realised they had been set free, they laughed.

It was like having an amazing dream, only it was reality.

Their mouths were filled with laughter and singing.

THEN - The heathen said that God had done great things for them.

The world needs to see you demonstrating your freedom.

How free are you to laugh and shout and sing?

The world needs to see you free.

Resist Temptation and Smile.

Resist Temptation and Smile. James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Do you love Jesus? Can you demonstrate that love to other people? Don't accept the temptation to be miserable. Don't accept the temptation to sit still during worship at church. Don't accept the temptation to keep a straight face. Walk around with a smile instead, smile because you are loved. Smile because you are free.

Go on - Have A Laugh. Here are some jokes.

Go on - Have A Laugh. Here are some jokes. Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. Merry Heart - (Hebrew) A rejoicing heart. Medicine - From a root Hebrew word - To be healed. Broken spirit - A wounded spirit. It just dries you up. Sometimes you just have to laugh, to shout for joy, to be free. Sometimes even just to just get out into the sunshine is healing. Joke 1 - I took part in the sun-tanning Olympics recently. I got bronze. Joke 2 - You can even go out for a drive in the countryside in your car. Stay away from city centres because there is so much crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels. Joke 3 - Just make the best use of your time. Recently the European Union said that they want all timepieces in Europe to display Roman Numerals - Not on my watch. Jokes courtesy of Tim Vine - British Christian Comedian.

Did You Know That God Laughs?

Did You Know That God Laughs? Psalm 2:2-4 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Father God thinks that it is funny when people come against us, that they actually believe they will win. He laughs because He knows they can't win against His anointed, you are His anointed. God wants you to be free, so join God and enjoy a laugh too. We should be free to worship, free to laugh, free to cry, free to share, free to shout, free to admit we have a problem.

Give It A Shout.

Give It A Shout. John 3:16-17 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. If you cannot jump and clap and shout for Jesus, you may still be in bondage. Anyone who is still in bondage is perishing, not living an everlasting life of freedom. That tells me you didn't believe Jesus when He said you are free. Father didn't send Jesus to die to condemn you, but save you. Because He loves you - are you sure? Give it a shout.

Sometimes it just calls for a SHOUT!

Sometimes it just calls for a SHOUT! Joshua 6:16 and 20 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. There was no battle, no conflict, no fighting. The city was won with a shout, because God was with them. The city was won with a shout, because they obeyed Him. Encourage yourself to shout out to God, they took a city by it. Don’t take any notice of your culture or your upbringing, just do it. Step out and do this especially if you are not comfortable doing it.

Leaping for Joy.

Leaping for Joy. When things are not going well - there is an answer to that. Luke 6 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. When people are bad-mouthing you and gossipping. Stop what you are doing and leap in the air. More than once. Joy comes. If you have never done this, you are missing out on a true injection of joy into your life. Suddenly the negative words seem to vanish like a morning mist.

Would you describe yourself as being alive?

Would you describe yourself as being alive? Psalm 104:33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. How often do you sing to The Lord? Or do you only do that in church? Do you any have worship CDs in your car? Do you have worship songs on your smartphone? How deep do you feel you go when you worship our amazing Jesus?

What do we know about False Worship?

What do we know about False Worship? Especially looking at how we worship God personally. There is a chorus with a line: I lift my hands to the coming King. False worship is when you sing this without lifting your hands. Singing Darlene’s song - Shout to The Lord quietly is false worship. Singing Tim Hughes song - Oh Happy Day without at least a smile on your face is false worship. Father wants us blessed as we worship Him. Doing it in a false way, will not put us in the right place to receive from Him.

You spirit wants you to be DOING the Word.

You spirit wants you to be DOING the Word. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22) Being a doer of the word is: Knowing what The Bible says and putting it into practice in your life. Learning to act like Jesus. Acting like the Bible is so. Living it, unashamedly. Just DOING it.

Developing your Spirit

Developing your Spirit But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23) As we feed on our spiritual food, our spirit grows in strength. Then it produces fruit that keeps us in the will of God. When we are allowing these things to flow in our lives, there is no law can stop it. Nothing that man or the devil can do, will prevent your fruit becoming mature.

How a Trinity functions.

How a Trinity functions. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) How do living beings function? You contact the natural world with your body. You contact the intellectual world with your soul. You contact God (the spiritual world) with your spirit. The body does nothing without instruction. The mind is like a computer that needs instructions. The spirit; after you are Born-Again, wants to and should be in control of your mind and body. How do you grow and develop? Your body feeds on natural food that produces physical strength. Your soul feeds on intellectual input that produces will power and emotional stability. Your spirit feeds on spiritual food like God’s Word, prayer and Christian fellowship. That produces faith and grows the fruit of the spirit.

You - The Spirit, are in charge.

You - The Spirit, are in charge. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2) If you have to present your body to God. If you have to get your mind transformed. Let me ask - who is the you that is doing this. Just who is in charge around here? You the spirit take charge and present your body as a living sacrifice. You the spirit take charge and get your mind transformed, so you can prove the will of God. And by the way: There is not a good will of God, an acceptable will of God and a perfect will of God. He only has one will for you and it is: Good, acceptable and perfect.

You are a Trinity.

You are a Trinity. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) The real you is a Spirit. You have a soul made up of your mind, your will and your emotions. And you live in a body, and you look out of those windows (your eyes). Yes that’s right, you are tri-une just like your creator Father. No wonder you get on so well with Him. He wants every aspect of our being to be sanctified. That means made holy and set apart for Him. And because of the sacrifice of Jesus - blameless too.

First Things First

First Things First There are just two commandments: Love God and love your neighbour.(Matthew 22:33-40) If you love God and your neighbour, you will not break any of the original ten commandments. But God has to be first place. Where He is not first place, it will spiral out of control. If we don't love Him first, our love will focus elsewhere. The focus of out time talent and treasury tells who we love first. A brilliant nugget of The Word from Pastor David Blouin. At the tenth celebration of Pastor Timothy Ramsay. At Word of Faith church London yesterday

Don’t Be Moved.

Don’t Be Moved.

We need to pay more attention to the things of God than the things of the News.

Do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians  4:18) 

Everything we see and hear from the world will fade away.

All the foreboding predictions will come to nothing.

But the Word of The Lord endures forever.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled. The recent Blood Moons gave rise to many predictions about catastrophic events that just haven’t happened. Jesus knew that we would hear such scary stuff but said in John 14:27. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Let not - is a choice, we do not have to allow fear to come into our hearts. Instead, Jesus has given us His peace. The Prince of peace gives us His peace. It does not mean an absence of trouble - that is the world view of peace. His peace comes despite what is going on around us.

All Things Are Possible.

All Things Are Possible. Jesus said to the sick boy’s father, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. (Mark 9:21-23) Now there is nothing impossible if you believe in the God of the impossible. Here it is healing, but it could be anything, He can do it. You can do it. Just think about an impossible situation. Do you believe God can do it? Do you believe that with God you can do it?

With Men Salvation Is Impossible.

With Men Salvation Is Impossible. And the disciples were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible. (Mark 10:26-27) You can believe for the impossible where salvation is concerned. Family salvation, friend salvation, work colleague salvation, neighbour salvation. Whatever and whoever it is, there salvation is not impossible with God. You and God and prayer can do it.