Learning to Love

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:7-8 NASB

What are you doing? Where are you going? Do you think you are in control? That's what I used to believe. I believed in myself. Self. Alone. There is nothing more miserable than being alone all the time.

Your mommy taught me how to love again. And when you came along, I learned that I had no idea that one could love and be loved so deeply. Then guess what I learned : GOD IS LOVE - and His Love in our hearts is a love that we can share as husbands and wives, families and friends, communities, churches, nations, and peoples...He is the Source. We are able to know and experience the Love of our Lord through each other, as long as we are open to receiving and radiating His Love.

Be willing to be Loved by the Lord. This is the first step in learning to love all people...even your enemies. Start at the Source: 1) Let Him Love you, 2) love Him, and 3) love with His Love.

I love you.

-Daddy

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love."
-1 Corinthians 13 NASB

Thought, Word and Action

"...live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.'" -1 Peter 3:8-11 NIV

Think before you speak and act. Do your thoughts and words match your actions? Be single-minded (determined and resolute) in all you think, say and do. Pray to the Spirit for wisdom, understanding and guidance. Let the peace of Christ always reign in your heart.

Never tell a lie. Seek His Truth and speak His Truth. Follow Him and you never have to worry.

Refrain from speaking badly about others, and excuse yourself from tainted conversations. Gossip hurts the speaker, the target and the hearer. Always treat others and speak about others with the same respect you would like to receive. Forgive, pray for, and witness to those who do not do the same.

Your words and your attitude have the power to harm and to heal those around you. Ask Jesus to fill you with His Light and Life so you may be a shining example of His Love.

I love you.

-Daddy

"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." -Romans 12:17-18 NASB

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." -Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit." -Psalms 34:13 NASB

"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips." -Psalms 141:3 NIV

"The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, but the perverted tongue will be cut out." -Proverbs 10:31 NASB

"He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles." -Proverbs 21:23 NASB

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good. A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit." -Proverbs 15:1-4 NASB

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." -Matthew 5:22 NIV

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." -Matthew 7:1-5 NASB

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil." -Matthew 12:33-35 NASB

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." -Ephesians 4:29-32 NASB

"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are be-ing tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. -James 3:1-12 NIV

Live for Him and Through Him

"...Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." -1 Corinthians 8:6 NASB

Live for the Lord and be pleasing to Him. Nothing else matters.

He takes care of all our needs. He walks with us each and every moment. He comforts us in our sorrow. He lifts us when we are down. He fills us when we are empty. He scolds us when we are wrong. He covers us when we are under attack. He is our love, our strength, our shield, our provider, our mercy, our life, and our being.

What is your concern, your doubt, your fear, your ailment, your disability, your difficulty, your discouragement, your longing, your need, your failure, your stumbling block, your misdeed, or your hidden shame? Bring it all to Jesus. Lay it before His Cross and ask Him to heal your troubled heart.

The Lord of all power and goodness and mercy has been waiting for you to fall into His loving arms. He will not let you down.

I love you.

-Daddy

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." -Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NASB

"The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; he will also hear their cry and will save them. The LORD keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever." -Psalm 145:18-21 NASB

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" -Acts 17:24-28 NIV

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:24-34 NASB

National Prayer of Repentance*

Almighty God, we thank You and praise You for Your unending mercy and grace poured out upon our nation. You have delivered us in times of war, reunited us after conflicts among ourselves, and filled our lives with such abundance, Your blessings overflow our borders.

Yet still, we take You for granted. We come before You now, in desperate need of Your forgiveness. We confess that the liberty You so graciously gave us has become a license to do as we please. Our culture mocks You; our highest courts are esteemed above Your Word. We’ve traded genuine spirituality for temporary pleasure, true virtue for hollow celebrity. We teach our children self-indulgence, yet stand mystified at the blood on their hands. We lust after material things, yet wonder why our souls are empty.

Revive us, O Lord. Your Presence is our only hope. Impart to us Your passion for good over evil. As we humble ourselves and seek Your face, forgive us O God, and heal us. Make us one, that America would be the land You envisioned from the beginning…a beacon of hope lifted to the world, a people free to serve You and one another, in genuine love.

In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—in the name of Jesus we pray. AMEN.

* Visit: www.PentecostWalk.org for more information.

Abandoning Habits

"Your god may be your little Christian habit, the habit of prayer at stated times, or the habit of Bible reading. Watch how your Father will upset those times if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes - I can't do that just now, I am praying; it is my hour with God. No, it is your hour with your habit." -Oswalt Chambers, in "Make a Habit of Having No Habits"

It is a bad habit of mine to limit expectations in my relationship with the Lord of what He is able to accomplish in and through me and the lives of others. I have often reduced this most-important-of-relationships to a formula. Today I read a devotional by Oswalt Chambers titled "Make a Habit of Having No Habits" that convicted me: If we fall into irrevocable and unalterable routines of patterned prayer-times, bible-reading hours, and service attendance we may lose whole degrees of spontaneity and intimacy in our relationship with Him.

Relationships often lean on comfort, familiarity, structure and predictability. But our most cherished relationships have a spark of abandon that allows room to dream, explore and improvise within the cadence of a familiar song. This type of relationship is only developed over time. It requires complete patience, love and trust - and has an element of ease and a dash of unpredictability.

I remember back on the first days...when He revealed His Amazing Presence. Everything literally was new to me! Now I often find myself becoming impatient, taking His Love and grace and strength for granted, and falling into safe routines. I realize that this is dangerously selfish and short-sighted, and that I am not fully surrendering to His will.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please empty me of self and fill me with your Holy Spirit of Love that I may be completely abandoned to You and Your will for me! I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

I love you.

-Daddy

The Blessings of Wisdom

Proverbs 2; 3:1-12 NIV

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you prosperity.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.

Fellowship of the Unashamed

by Author Unknown

I am a part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed." The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, love with patience, live by prayer and labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable and my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up or slow up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and spoken up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner is clear: I am a part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."