1John 3:11-18.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because “He laid down His life for us.” And the real test of any love is what it is prepared to “lay down.” How much is it ready to spend? How much will it bleed? There is much spurious love about. It lays nothing down; it only takes things up! It is self-seeking, using the speech and accents of love. It is a “work of the flesh,” which has stolen the label of a “fruit of the Spirit.” Love may always be known by its expenditures, its self-crucifixions, its Calvarys. Love is always laying down its life for others. Its pathway is always a red road. You may track its goings by the red “marks of the Lord Jesus.”

And this is the life, the love-life, which the Lord Jesus came to create among the children of men. It is His gracious purpose to form a spiritual fellowship in which every member will be lovingly concerned about his fellows’ good. A real family of God would be one in which all the members bleed for each, and each for all.

How can we gain this disposition of love? “God is love.” “We love because He first loved us.” At the fountain of eternal love we too may become lovers, becoming “partakers of the divine nature,” and filled with all “the fulness of God.”–John H. Jowett

“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift”–.Matt 5:23-24

There is something to do before we kneel down to pray in our closet, or begin our worship in the sanctuary, or come to the Lord’s table. There ought to be a look inward at our own hearts before the look upward at the face of God. Are we ready to pray? Are the obstructions out of the way? Is our heart ready for worship? The worship that pleases God the best is love in the heart. He has no pleasure in sacrifices and ceremonies and ordinances while the heart is full of bitterness. He cares nothing for our professions of love to Him so long as we hate our brother. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

If therefore, we want our worship to be acceptable to God, we must be sure to come into His presence with hearts cleansed of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and all malice. Thus every approach to God in prayer requires self-examination; and if we can remember that we have wronged any one, or that there is any estrangement or strife, we should seek reconciliation before we pray. At least we must see that our own spirits are thoroughly cleansed of all bitterness before we come to God’s altar. This rule is fitted to keep our hearts always free from anger. Saint Paul counsels that we should not let the sun go down upon our wrath. No day should be allowed to close over us with anger in our breasts. We may never see another day, and we should not lie down to sleep cherishing bitterness against any other. The evening prayer should cleanse our spirits of all feelings of anger, as we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”–J.R. Miller

Most people spend their lives in the pursuit of things that are of no importance or of secondary importance. Their time, energy, and resources are spent without regard for the things that matter the most. Then they dare to think of themselves as wise— what folly! John Henry Jowett said it well when he wrote the following:

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:21

One day the famous evangelist George Whitfield was relating the difficulties of ministry to some friends. He said he was tired of the burdens and was glad his work would soon be over as he was getting close to going home to be with the Lord.

His other friends admitted having the same feelings – all except one, a Mr. Tennant. Whitfield asked, “Brother Tennant, you are the oldest among us. Do you not rejoice to think that the time is near when you’ll be called home with the Lord?”

The old man said bluntly, “I have nothing to do with my death. My business is to live as long as I can and serve my Savior as faithfully as I can until He thinks it’s time to call me home.” Whitfield accepted the word as a gentle rebuke from the Lord, and it encouraged him to continue going about his ministry.

As we reach the autumn years of our lives, it can be tempting to think our best years are behind us. This can cause us to become discouraged. But the truth is that our usefulness for the Lord never expires until the very moment He calls us home. So stay focused on the task at hand, encouraged that your best days are ahead when the Lord will use you in a powerful way! Ask God to give you the strength and encouragement you need to continue serving Him faithfully all the days of your life.(Copied)

We’ve all heard it–“Old age ain’t for sissies”. And if you are there you know it’s true. While there might be a few rare birds who are an exception to the rule, most old people find life to be more and more difficult. That’s what makes our text so precious. While God doesn’t exempt us from suffering He enables us to endure it. Having this promise encourages us to press on rather than to give up.