From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>

To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"

Cc:

Sent: Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 5:52 AM

Subject: 2-14-24 THOUGHTS

2-14-24   THOUGHTS

It’s a day of  LOVE!  Every day should be a day of love.  1John 4:16   “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”   Love is first and foremost a BEHAVIOR, and that behavior cannot be SELFISH!  The New Testament word AGAPE,  “does not seek its own!”  We will think of two marvelous passages that describe  LOVE in BEHAVIORAL terms this morning.  1John 4:12   No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.   What is below, will make your LIFE GREAT and bless everyone around you!

1Cor 13:4-8a  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,  5  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  6  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8   Love never fails;
1Cor 13:4-8a  Message Bible    Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head,  5  Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always "me first," Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, 6  Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 7  Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.  8   Love never dies.
1John 3:16-19     We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.   17  But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  18  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19  We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him.

My Prayer:
O Lord God of love, teach us more of Yourself.  May we love with pure hearts that seek good for all those around us.  It is Your nature to love and bless, and we see that in Your Spirit Words through all of man’s history.  Help us to love in deed and in truth.  Bless us with the joy of blessing.  May we see the love of giving as far superior to getting.  Help us to see the place of love in Your eternal design of all things.   May our love for You spill over in every aspect of our lives to benefit those You have created.  With eternity in mind, help us to save souls with simple loving acts,  coming from pure and eager hearts.    In Jesus,     Amen.