Have You Experienced These 3 Loves?

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A Bouquet of 3 Loves

Jesus told His followers to have a strange bouquet of three loves. As Jesus described them, those three loves are individually rare and seldom seen together as a bouquet. How many of the three do you have?

1) All-out love for God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 12:30)

2) Neighbor love: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 12:31) Focus on your neighbor’s needs and well being as much as you focus on your own.

3) Enemy love: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28)

Love never justifies, excuses, or applauds wrongdoing, self-destruction, impurity, or whatever else the Bible calls sin. It compassionately speaks against those things with mercy, forgiveness, and an invitation to the healing of repentance.

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Experiencing Christ Beyond Religious Legalism

Daily writing prompt
What’s the most underrated life skill?

Studying, analyzing, and trying to explain God’s law doesn’t produce life. The Bible says that it produces death.

Jesus calls us beyond a legalistic approach that tries to understand God, systematize and rationalize theology, and institutionalize faith. Instead, He offers “whosoever will” the opportunity to come and have a never-ending, heart-to-heart relationship with Him.

Jesus wants to give you “peace that passes understanding,” and “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Are you consistently experiencing those gifts day and night?

Peace that passes understanding is deep, inner tranquility that can’t be explained, analyzed, or figured out. It bypasses the mind and can only be experienced, savored, and enjoyed deep inside your heart.

Joy unspeakable and full of glory is delight that spontaneously flows from God through a human heart. It is so beautiful and pure that no words can explain it.

You can’t simply think your way to genuine, unshakable inner peace and joy. They are produced by humbly and consistently surrendering your thoughts, feelings, and desires to the living Jesus Christ and allowing Him to do His will in and through you throughout each day.

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Encouraged by Numbers

Since 2014, my wife Ernie and I have been seeing three or more of the same number in a row — 333, 777, 111, 5555, etc. — several times a day. We see them on digital clocks, signs, television, odometers, phones, computers, and in books and magazines. It happens far too many times to be a coincidence.

We don’t intentionally look for them. We suddenly notice them and are continually surprised to see them. Here’s an article I wrote when we first started seeing them.

We were seeing the same number repeated so many times that we began to try to figure out what it meant. It finally came to us that it means alignment with God. We began to notice that we would see aligned numbers at the very moment we started to feel discouragement, disappointment, or doubt. Now, every time we see three or more numbers aligned, we feel greatly encouraged as if God is telling us, “I’ve got this under control,” and “You’re right where you’re supposed to be

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My “Magic” Moment

Daily writing prompt
What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive?

The moment I first felt truly alive was the moment I woke up to the presence, power, and love of the risen Jesus. I was a freshman in college and reluctantly visited an enthusiastic gathering of Jesus Freaks in the lobby of my dorm. They talked about Jesus like He is real, living, and present today. As they did, something happened within me and in a moment, I suddenly became aware of Christ living in and around me. A passionate love for Him filled my heart and I have never been the same. Fervent adoration for Jesus has never left me!

You can’t sleepwalk with Jesus! Wake up and continually let Him demonstrate His presence within, though, and around you.

Stop offering yourself as a slave to impure thoughts. Open your heart to God, surrender to the presence of Christ in you, and be led by His holy thoughts and inner promptings.

Reject the devil’s thoughts of accusation, temptation, intimidation, and frustration. Keep them out of your mind.

Embrace God’s thoughts of revelation and inspiration. Let them be your constant meditation. Fill your heart with adoration of His majesty.

I wrote this poem the night I first encountered the living Jesus: 

Today I saw the Son
Rising from the water,
Now wine,
And felt His warmth
Caressing me,
As I disrobed
And submerged.
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I Wish That . . .

I wish that Christians wouldn’t ignore Jesus’ commands to love one another and to love your enemies. I wish they would wholeheartedly obey them.

Although Jesus doesn’t approve of many of our behaviors, He loves illegal immigrants, Democrats, Muslims, addicts, Republicans, adulterers, homosexuals, the gender confused, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Arabs, Asians, Africans, Europeans, and any other group of people you can think of. Will you love them too? (John 3:16)

You don’t know the condition of another person’s heart. You see their outward appearance, but you don’t know their heart. You aren’t aware of what’s going on inside them — their feelings, concerns, worries, fears, guilt, pain, discouragement, frustration, struggles, temptations, and desires. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Instead of seeing people as a threat, ask God to help you see all people with love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.

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Is Your Garden Hose Flowing?

Most people have picked up a water hose, turned on the faucet, and had nothing come out. Then when they have examined the hose they have seen that kinks are shutting down the water flow.

The same thing happens to Christians. Kinks in their heart, mind, and behaviors prevent the Holy Spirit’s living water from flowing within and through them.

Many have no idea of the presence and power of God that they are missing out on. If only they would listen to God and let Him show them how to remove their kinks, they would begin to the experience an inner flow of indescribable joy and incomprehensible peace.

“Quench not the Spirit.

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Unkinked Christianity

If you’re a Christian,
It’s vital to know,
God’s released the flow
Of Christ inside you,
The hope of glory.

Unkink your heart
Like a garden hose
Until God’s living
Water freely flows.
Quench not the Spirit.

Humble yourself and remove the kinks in your heart until you experience the ongoing joy of unquenched, kink-free Christianity! The flow of Divine Revelation produces the fruit of spiritual elevation and inner transformation.

The Bible is about spiritual direction from God that leads to intimate, flowing, heart-to-heart connection with God. It’s not primarily about information. It’s about supernatural transformation. Read it regularly with an open, hungry heart.

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The “Ize” Have It! (Setting My “Ize” on Christ)

Daily writing prompt
Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself?

The “Ize” Have It! Which ize are you looking through? Open your eyes and see supernaturally.

Jesus didn’t die and rise from the dead so people can intellectualize, theorize, and theologize about Him. He lives so people can realize and personalize Him as their absolute Lord and God! (John 20:28)

Don’t just mentalize, analyze, or memorize what the Bible says about Jesus. Arise in the Spirit and “heartorize” it! Ponder it. Let His words burn in your heart. (Colossians 3:2)

Allow Jesus to live in you and direct your thoughts, words, and actions to conform to His will. Let Him energize and spiritualize your life with His presence, power, and love. (Colossians 1:27)

Refuse to systematize and formalize your faith! “Disciple-ize” it! Always be led by Christ’s Spirit. (Romans 8:14)

Avoid being lukewarm. (Revelation 3:15-16) By being a nominal Christian, Sunday morning only, you unintentionally trivialize your faith.

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Garden Conversation

Daily writing prompt
If you could start a new business right now, what would it be?

The following garden conversation was a bad start. But you can have a new start!

Three kinds of voices–God’s, the devil’s, and human voices– in a garden conversation changed humanity forever. God told Adam he could eat the fruit of every tree in the Garden of Eden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. God warned Adam that he would die if he ate from that tree.

Later the devil (disguised as a serpent) asked Eve: “Is it true that God said not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

Eve told the devil that they could eat from all the trees except one, and if they touched it or ate from it, they would die. The devil told Eve that it wasn’t true that they would die. He accused God of having a selfish motive for not wanting Adam and her to eat from that tree.

Eve saw that the fruit from that tree was desirable and she ate it. Later she gave some of its fruit to Adam, and he ate it. Suddenly they realized that they were nude, covered themselves with fig leaves, and hid behind some trees.

Then God asked Adam: “Where are you?”

Adam answered: “I heard you walking in the garden and was afraid because I was nude. That’s why I hid.”

God responded: “And who told you that you are nude? Have you eaten from the tree I told you not to?”

Adam answered by blaming Eve for giving him the fruit. Then God asked Eve: “What have you done?” And Eve blamed the devil.

Now look around in your own heart and look at the evil in the world. Look at the harm that listening to the voice of the devil and of human desires has caused!

Now three voices are speaking in your mind and heart: your own voice, the voice of the devil, and God’s voice. Who are you listening to?

Don’t just memorize the Bible. Arise in the Spirit and “heartorize” it! Ponder it and let God write it on your heart.

If you have two hours a week to spend driving to church, attending the service, and driving home, perhaps those two hours would have more impact on your life if you spent them reading the Bible with an open, humble heart and letting the Holy Spirit speak directly to you as you read. Try it and see.

Alignment with God is not about perfection, but direction. Are you listening to His inner voice and allowing His Spirit to lead you from within? Are you getting closer to Christ and surrendering your will to Him more and more each day? Or are you drifting further away from Him?

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