By Silvannas McKenzie (Kingstown Church of Christ, SVG)
For God so loved us that He give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have Eternal Life.
Please read Isaiah 53.
How can I be in the kingdom of Christ and hate my brother? How can I hold a grudge against my sister? Such things ought not to be in the Lord's church. Or can I enter into Heaven hating one of my brethren? God forbid, have we not read John 4:7-8, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
Who is my brother, my sister, and my mother, but they that doeth the will of my Father? Jesus said they that doeth the will of His Father in Heaven are indeed His brothers, His sisters, and His mother.
Beloved let us love one another and give no room for the adversary; the wicked one, the Devil. Or has Satan filled our hearts with hate as in the days of old, when Cain killed Abel because of jealousy? James 4:7, "Submit yourself to God, resist the Devil and he shall flee."
1 John 2:7-11, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
What can your brother do to you that is so bad that you cannot forgive him? It's easier to love those who love us, but our love is tested when people just do not like us (not that we have done wrong), and we love them in spite of.
Matthew 18:21-22, 35 "Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven... So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
1 John 2:15-17, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
1 Corinthians 13:1-13, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is LOVE."
Oh how much I love my Brother Yeshua for He has taught me how to Love.
And to you who are reading this whether you be my brother, or sister, or mother in the Faith (or otherwise), if I have wronged you please forgive me and if you have wronged me, no matter what it was, I forgive and love you.
AMEN.
For God so loved us that He give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have Eternal Life.
Please read Isaiah 53.
How can I be in the kingdom of Christ and hate my brother? How can I hold a grudge against my sister? Such things ought not to be in the Lord's church. Or can I enter into Heaven hating one of my brethren? God forbid, have we not read John 4:7-8, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
Who is my brother, my sister, and my mother, but they that doeth the will of my Father? Jesus said they that doeth the will of His Father in Heaven are indeed His brothers, His sisters, and His mother.
Beloved let us love one another and give no room for the adversary; the wicked one, the Devil. Or has Satan filled our hearts with hate as in the days of old, when Cain killed Abel because of jealousy? James 4:7, "Submit yourself to God, resist the Devil and he shall flee."
1 John 2:7-11, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
What can your brother do to you that is so bad that you cannot forgive him? It's easier to love those who love us, but our love is tested when people just do not like us (not that we have done wrong), and we love them in spite of.
Matthew 18:21-22, 35 "Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven... So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
1 John 2:15-17, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
1 Corinthians 13:1-13, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is LOVE."
Oh how much I love my Brother Yeshua for He has taught me how to Love.
And to you who are reading this whether you be my brother, or sister, or mother in the Faith (or otherwise), if I have wronged you please forgive me and if you have wronged me, no matter what it was, I forgive and love you.
AMEN.
