Hi Everyone,
I am excited about Sunday's message as I talk about holy desire. We should have a holy deisre for God. One of the illustrations I am using is to think back to that moment of your first "puppy love". For most of us it was a paradox of emotions: eixcitment and anticipation; yet, fear and heartache. For me there was a powerful yearning within me that craved for the attention of the one for whom I was afflicted. It was totally unrealistic for sure.
This type of love has the power to make someone do the most unreasonable things and act in the most irrational ways. In one of the areas where I have served a 14 year old girl was so afflicted by puppy love that she ran away from home to be with the boy whom she loved; only to find out that he really didn't care for her at all. Such is the power of puppy love.
Holy desire consists of much of the same feelings when it comes to love for God. It may seem unreasonable and irrational to many around us that we might give up everything in order to follow Jesus; but that is the power of His love. It creates a holy desire within you to be obedient to the will of God for your life.
This Sunday I will be explaining the Characteristics of a Holy Desire by unsing the five physical senses of desire - smell, taste, hear, see and touch - to explain the spiritual phenomona that happens inside of you when filled with God's overpowering love.
To prepare, why not look up these portions of scripture, all from the Song of Songs: 1:3; 2:3; 2:14; and 2:6.
Blessings and have a great weekend.
-Pastor Leo
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Just My Opinion!
USA and the rest of the world were jubilant when the announcement was made by President Obama that Osama Bin Laden was killed by American soldiers. But the world needs to be careful not to see this action as an exercise of revenge; but rather, justice.
Justice is a God-given attribute that allows the world to carry out even some extreme acts for the well-being and protection of the innocent. In that sense, we all should work to that end.
But revenge is something totally different. Revenge is born out of the sin of unjustifiable anger and hatred. Revenge glorifies in acts of brutality and murder. It lays aside all things that are good and righteous in order to carry out its own evil deeds. It is a selfish motive to simply get even at all costs. It thrives on prejudice and hatred; which are its motivations.
However, justice is completely different. It regrets exacting punishment, but realizes that it must succumb to a higher value that involves the well-being and safety of all. It exhausts every other possibility before taking extreme action. It grieves its final recourse, even though it realizes that nothing else could be done. It is not easy to do.
Revenge is a trap of one counter attack after another - revenge upon revenge. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
The trap of revenge causes a festering of hatred that spawns an endless spree of destruction, with the innocent always caught in the middle. God help us all, when countries of the world choose hatred over justice, and revenge over peace; because revenge takes away all hope of freedom and peace.
Before rushing into a time of jubilation over the killing of Osama Bin Laden, spend some time in solemn prayer before God. Remember: Jesus died for justice, not revenge. The Bible says: "Vengence is mine; I will repay," says the Lord.
Blessings,
Pastor Leo
Justice is a God-given attribute that allows the world to carry out even some extreme acts for the well-being and protection of the innocent. In that sense, we all should work to that end.
But revenge is something totally different. Revenge is born out of the sin of unjustifiable anger and hatred. Revenge glorifies in acts of brutality and murder. It lays aside all things that are good and righteous in order to carry out its own evil deeds. It is a selfish motive to simply get even at all costs. It thrives on prejudice and hatred; which are its motivations.
However, justice is completely different. It regrets exacting punishment, but realizes that it must succumb to a higher value that involves the well-being and safety of all. It exhausts every other possibility before taking extreme action. It grieves its final recourse, even though it realizes that nothing else could be done. It is not easy to do.
Revenge is a trap of one counter attack after another - revenge upon revenge. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
The trap of revenge causes a festering of hatred that spawns an endless spree of destruction, with the innocent always caught in the middle. God help us all, when countries of the world choose hatred over justice, and revenge over peace; because revenge takes away all hope of freedom and peace.
Before rushing into a time of jubilation over the killing of Osama Bin Laden, spend some time in solemn prayer before God. Remember: Jesus died for justice, not revenge. The Bible says: "Vengence is mine; I will repay," says the Lord.
Blessings,
Pastor Leo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)