The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
July 2, 2006
In
This Issue:
Love
Lessons from the Lord
by
Steve Klein
Walking
with God
by Dwane
Derrick
Love Lessons from the Lord
I wonder how many self-help books have been written to try to help people learn how to love each other? Isn't that what many books are really about that are written on subjects like marriage, dating, conflict resolution, parenting, and interpersonal relationships?
In the New Testament, we find a group of people who didn't need to read any how-to books on love. The Thessalonians had already learned their lesson. The apostle Paul wrote to them, "But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another" (1 Thessalonians 4:9).
God is certainly qualified to teach lessons on love. Who would know more about what love is? He is the definition of it! "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Among the many wonderful lessons we can learn from our heavenly Father, consider these on the nature of love:
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Love is sacrificial. God gave His only begotten Son out of love for us (John 3:16). This supreme sacrifice surely teaches us that love is sacrificial by nature. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:10-11). If we say that we love, but are unwilling to sacrifice, we haven't learned what love is. In 1 John 3:17-18, the apostle John said, "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
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Love is merciful. Ephesians 2:4 states that "God . . . is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us." God's love for us is the reason He is merciful to us - blessing and forgiving us. Jesus commanded, "Therefore, be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36).
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Love is unconditional. It is natural to love those that love us, but it is Supernatural to love those that hate us. This is the love that God teaches. Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:43-45).
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Unconditional love can be critical. Unconditional love does not equal uncritical love. Sometimes love demands that we point out the faults of those whom we love. We learn this from Jesus Himself, who told the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:19, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." If we truly care for another person, we will say and do all that we can to keep them on the right path.
Learning to love means learning to sacrifice for others, learning to forgive when we're wronged, learning to treat all men equally and learning to correct those who need correcting. Have you learned your lesson?
--Steve Klein
There are many different types and figures used to describe the life of the one who serves God, such as fighting, running, standing, working in a vineyard. The word "walk" is also used many times in the Scriptures with reference to the life of the child of God.
The Bible teaches us to "walk with God." It is said of Noah and Enoch that they "walked with God." (Genesis 5:25; 6:9). They became acquainted with God, and it came to pass that the whole meaning of life for these men could be summed up in the statement - they "walked with God." The companionship they shared with God was so wonderful that it was as if they walked side by side with Him. The things they did, the places they went, the things they said, were all that could have been expected if God had literally walked by their side.
One of the most outstanding things about these men is that they walked with God in an evil age, when such was unpopular. Many seem to feel that a person will seldom rise above the average goodness, or sink far below the average wickedness of the age in which he lives. These men prove by their conduct, in contrast to the conduct of the people around them, that this does not have to be the case. They did not allow their character to be molded and shaped by their contemporaries. This shows that we can serve God even though the majority of the world rebels against Him; and that we can retain our integrity and maintain our stand for right though such may be unpopular. We cannot afford to just drift with the current of the streams of our time.
Walking with God includes walking by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Noah walked by faith when he prepared the ark (Hebrews 11:7). There had never been a flood, but God said there was going to be one, and Noah believed what He said. God spoke and he obeyed because he believed. If we have the kind of faith Noah demonstrated, then we will not require a reason for every command we receive from God. The fact that God says a thing is sufficient.
Walking with God means being in agreement with Him. "Can two walk together, except they by agreed?" (Amos 3:3). To walk with God means to make His Word the rule of our lives and His glory our goal in all that we do. It means to comply with His will, to agree with and conform to His plans and purposes. To walk with God means that we must keep in step with Him, not running before in presumption or lagging behind in indifference.
If we would walk with God, we must live a life of communion with Him, not only in worship, but in daily living. Our communion with God should not consist of a few snatches of time, here and there, out of a busy schedule. To walk with God means to think of Him often, to be constantly aware of His nearness. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). "Commune with your own heart upon your own bed, and be still" (Psalm 4:4). "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
How many things would we have to hide and change if God were to spend the day in person with us? If we're not willing to live now so that He can walk with us unashamed, how can we hope to walk with Him through eternity?
Dwane Derrick
~In Gospel Power, Anderson, Alabama, 10/13/96.