It is my prayer that your connection with God through the devotional time you have with Him makes a lot of sense, and that this devotional is only an addition to the good time you have with Christ:
1 Cor 13:8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
Commentary: As I shared before, the love of God, the agape love cannot end. The love of God maintains all life in the whole universe. Without that love that keeps on giving us life, we would all be dead and God cannot do that. It is us who refuse that love of God that eventually lose life and life everlasting. It is interesting to know that the moment Adam and Eve sinned, their cells in their body started dying to the point that eventually they experienced cessation of life. That is the sad history we share with all of the human race here on this planet.
Prayer: Because I have life in You, may I stay in this loving, saving relationship with You Jesus. May I choose to love You today as a response to You loving me first Jesus. May I share that love with those I meet today. Amen
Commentary: Here are few cross-reference verses for our verse 8 above:
Romans 11:29 For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
Commentary: This is true as long as we hold on to the gift Giver. Such connection/relationship is good for us and those who are observing.
1 John 4:8,16 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Commentary: The love of God motivated Him to make us and then to maintain a relationship with us. When we respond to the Holy Spirit daily to continue to stay in that saving relationship of love towards God, we experience the love of God in a similar way we experience warmth when we hug a person.
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Ephesians 4:11-13 And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, / to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, / until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.
Commentary: Love matures us as we use the gifts/talents God had given to us, to strengthen the bond within the family of God and to share our knowledge of God with those around us.
1 Corinthians 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
Reflection: Do we desire greater and greater gifts in life?
Do we regularly pursue excellence in who we are and what we do?
Such desires and pursuits resemble our great and excellent God so why not?!
1 Corinthians 14:1, 39 Earnestly pursue love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. So, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
Commentary: Even though we often think that prophecy had to do with speaking of the future, but in its primary meaning to prophecy is to speak well of God. Both king Saul and the soldiers he sent prior, prophesied of who God is.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Commentary: We can be or do many things during the day; however, this verse calls us to love others. Hence, as the day closes, and we recount our day, we should be able to assess that we have loved those around us and that we have been loved by others around us.
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Colossians 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
Commentary: Often we pray for unity, but maybe that is not the best strategy for experiencing it. Practicing love towards others has a greater chance of experiencing unity that binds than praying for it.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, / gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Reflection: More and more these days, especially during the night I am calling for the Holy Spirit to live in me and to manage my night life. These are the quality evidences that the fruit lives in us and that fruit is the Holy Spirit.
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. / By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
Commentary: The ideal set before me is to love as Jesus loves. That is a tall order, but nevertheless that is what He calls us to aim for.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Commentary: The words of God as we find them in the Bible have endured for thousands of years which makes us believe that God’s words in the universe have been with Him forever and will stay with Him forever because He is an eternal God.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
Commentary: Many things around us change. God is one permanent thing that does not change no matter how much people try to make God in their own image. The way God wants us to see Him will not change.
Prayer: O Lord, because You are the fulness of love, and that will never change, may I continue to grow and mature, may I change into your likeness day after day. Amen
Peter Caran
Pastor of Cobourg and Harmony Churches