TRUE LOVE

November 14, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

Love “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”- 1 Corinthians 13:5

A story is told of a man who, after his fiancée broke off their engagement, received the following letter:

Dearest Jimmy,

No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you!

Yours forever, Marie

P.S. Congratulations on winning the lottery.

It’s been said that many people get married for the same reason a tick gets on a dog. Not for what they can give, but for what they can get out of it!

So how can we love with the right motives? Well, whether we’re married or not, we’re called to love others in such a way that we seek their good before ours. We don’t love others for what they can do for us, but for how we can serve them.

Jesus embodied this kind of love in His life here on earth. He served those He loved by washing their feet, eating with them at risk to His own reputation, and fighting for them when they were unjustly accused.

If you want to love well, look at Jesus, the perfect example of love for us!

Pray and ask God to show you how you can love others better by serving them and putting their needs before yours.–Senior Living

LOVE LOOKS FOR A WAY

November 13, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

The chances are good that before this day is over someone will do something that displeases you—to put it mildly. How will you respond? Naturally you can say what you think and engage in a verbal battle, but that just makes matters worse. Love looks for a way to be a peacemaker. I found the following in some of my notes that might be helpful to you. I don’t know the author, but what is said gives us food for thought.

“Irritability and hasty temper are so common, that people do not think much of them. We talk about them as a kind of harmless weakness, so common as to be almost permissible. Men apologize for their friends who are bad-tempered, as if it made little difference.

But really, irritability is a serious blemish on one’s character. Think of the hurt an ungoverned temper produces in homes where angry words fly like arrows, wounding gentle hearts. Think how an ill-tempered father or mother hurts the lives of children.

The time to get a sweet temperament is in youth. We have no right to say a harsh word anywhere, especially in our own home!

It was the custom of two particular sisters, that when one of them felt out of sorts, moody, or ill-tempered — she would go away by herself until the ugly mood had passed off.

This would be a good rule to adopt in every home. In place of sulking or showing sullenness, when we feel this miserable demon getting possession of us — we had better go away and fight the battle out alone where our harsh speech will hurt no other one!”

TAMING THE TONGUE

November 12, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

“Speak evil of no man.” – Titus 3:2

The most unruly member of the body is the tongue, and the most harmful member of the church is the one who speaks evil of it. It is sad and strange how some are more kind to their co-wokers and the clerk at the store than they are to their brothers and sisters in Christ. Nothing displays our level of spiritual maturity better than our speech. The manner in which you speak to and of others tells more about you than it does about them. And it is a sad story that most folks tell. Considering how common this fault is it is amazing that God is able to bless the average church at all.

The following warning came from James Smith in 1840. He wrote to his congregation: “Speak of no man from an unholy motive, or with a design to injure him; this is decidedly wrong. We are commanded by our beloved Saviour, to love our enemies; to do good to them that hate us and despitefully use us; to pray for them and seek their salvation.

If we speak evil of them we dishonour God, bring guilt upon our consciences, grieve the Spirit, and spoil our peace of mind. If we can indulge in detraction without feeling guilty and distressed, our consciences must be blinded, and our hearts hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Our tongues are not our own, they are bought with a price, and should be employed in the service of their proper owner. Never indulge yourselves in thinking evil of another; or in feelings of jealousy, envy, revenge, bitterness, anger, or malice; for these are earthly, sensual, and devilish.

How unlovely it is to hear one professor speaking evil of another; the hearer speaking evil of the minister; the rich speaking contemptuously of the poor, the mistress of servants; much more ministers of ministers.

Speak not evil one of another, brethren.”

Whene’er the angry passions rise,
And tempt our thoughts and tongues to strife;
To Jesus let us turn our eyes,
Bright pattern of the Christian life!
How mild! How ready to forgive!
Be these the rules by which we live!

AN ELASTIC PROMISE

November 11, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

This is one of the most precious, popular, and profitable promises in the Bible. On numerous occasions it has lifted me up out of the pit of depression, stirred my heart, strengthened my hands and set my feet to running in the pathway of duty. George Everard (1828–1902) called this “an elastic promise”. he wrote:

Very rich and full is the promise–It has been spoken of as an elastic promise. The word “sufficient” may not sound very great, but it stretches according to a man’s necessity.
A Christian’s need may be great today–and the word “sufficient” reaches it.
It may be ten times as great tomorrow–but the word “sufficient” reaches it still.
The grace is still sufficient for the greater need–as for the lesser.

The promise shows also that not until we are weak–does the Lord bestow His strength. We may be too strong for the Lord to help us. Gideon’s army must be brought almost to nothing, before the Lord will use it to overthrow the Midianites. And until we are brought low in our own thoughts, until the discipline employed has thoroughly emptied us of all high imaginings as to what we can do, or we can effect, or we can bear–we cannot be strong in the Lord.

“When I am weak,” and not before, “then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10.
When I have learned experimentally . . .
that I am a bruised reed,
that I have in myself no power to endure affliction,
that left to myself I shall assuredly rebel against the rod, and murmur against the gracious Hand that holds it
–then the Lord draws near by the Spirit, and gives a joy and a peace that nothing can destroy!

MENACING MEMBERS

November 10, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

Would it not be wonderful if all those in the body of Christ were “Ministering Members”, accepting their responsibility to aid the others, working in harmony to fulfill the will of Christ and manifesting His likeness to those without. Thank God for such members–the church could not function without them. Unfortunately there are some who are menacing members who pose a great threat to the church.

I recently read an article, by a preacher I have great respect for, entitled, “Abusing the Body”–yeah, I hear ya laughing! O well, I really did, and it was about what you might expect–“Abusing the body”. What he said was factual and something we need to think about, but it prompted me to think along a different line. I started thinking about those who abuse the body of Christ. We live in a day when we hear a lot about abuses of different sorts– child abuse, spousal abuse, etc., but nobody is talking about church abuse. Someone needs to sound the alarm!

Over the years I have preached many messages related to the church and even used the phrase,”God is interested in body-building”. As Paul said, ” Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” (Rom. 14:19). So, I got to thinking about people’s abuse of the Body of Christ, the church. We could spend hours talking about the various ways in which people harm the church, but for now I just want you to think about the seriousness of such a sin. Abusing your own body is bad enough, but I suspect it is an even more serious offense to abuse the Lord’s body. It puts us in grave danger when we harm the Lord’s church, — even in danger of the grave. Really! Paul made this very clear when he wrote about the problems in the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 11:29-30).

It is bad enough when members refuse to help, aid, and support others, but it is worse when they intentionally attack and harm them. We keep hearing the refrain “This has to stop!” in regards to many things–well, I believe, it’s time for us to use this mantra in reference to the Lord’s church. If a church is to survive, this craziness has to stop. Over and over again I hear of church spats and splits and churches closing their doors. And it can happened to any church. It is bad enough that the world is against us. It is worse when we turn against one another. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.“(John 13:35). Maybe you ought to read 1 Cor. 13 to see what love does.

TRUE LOVE

LOVE LOOKS FOR A WAY

TAMING THE TONGUE

AN ELASTIC PROMISE

MENACING MEMBERS

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