Love is the Greatest A Sample Devotion from Seeking God’s Heart

 

Love is the Greatest
A Sample Devotion from Seeking God’s Heart

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 [NIV]

Why is love the greatest out of three worthy contenders? It is the greatest because it is God, for He is love (1 John 4:8). The apex of God’s attributes is love. This is why you go to God first for love. He is the lover of your soul, and the love of God far exceeds earth’s limited love. This is the reason you look to Jesus as the supreme example of how to love. He says the two greatest commands hinge on love (Matthew 22:37-39). Love is God’s gold standard; it rises above other compelling character traits such as faith and hope. Love is the theme that covers your character, seasons your service for Christ, and flavors your faith. It gives off a sweet aroma through trust, and gives gusto to grace. Love adds hotness to hope, potency to patience, and spice to selflessness. It brings brilliant technicolor to life, in contrast to our otherwise bland black-and-white loveless living. You can serve, provide for your families, cook a meal, feed the poor, attend church, and even worship; but if these lack love, you lose. You lose the blessing of God and you lose heaven’s reward because your motivation was not for your Master, Jesus Christ. Love is the greatest because it aligns your heart with Almighty God and is not lacking.

Love is God’s gold standard; it rises above other compelling character traits such as faith and hope.

You are the greatest when you love because it draws attention to Jesus. Hands down, heaven is happiest over your unconditional and relentless love. So meditate on love as you rise in the morning, work during the day, and eat dinner at night with your family. Your spouse longs to be loved; this is their greatest need from you. So love them lavishly in ways they want to be loved. Think often on love, and your actions will begin to follow your thoughts. What drives you? Is it love? Make love your motivation, and your happiness will spill over on to others. Love jump-starts joy and prolongs peace; it decreases pride and increases humility. Therefore, love long and hard, love unbiased and unencumbered, love early and love late. Love the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. Love during the good times and the bad. Love the deserving and undeserving. Linger long in your love, and you will be a lasting influence for the Lord.

Lastly, great love takes on different forms. Your situation may require tough love, full of accountability and action. Or your friend may be crying out for tender love, rich in encouragement and lots of listening. Pray for God’s wisdom and discernment on how to love, then trust Him with its application. Your greatest contribution to mankind is love on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your greatest gift to God and others is love. Because He loved you first, you can love (1 John 4:19). God is great, and He makes you great with love. You are your greatest when you get and give love.

Make love your motivation, and your happiness will spill over on to others.

Therefore, by the grace of God, seek to be a great lover. Love is the greatest in God’s eyes.

Boyd Bailey, founder of Wisdom Hunters, Inc., wrote Seeking God’s Heart as he sought to apply God’s unchanging truth to his everyday life. Written in real time from Boyd Bailey’s daily walk with the Lord, Seeking God’s Heart features 365 three-minute devotionals that dive into Scripture and reveal God’s wisdom. These brief devotionals will bless you with insight into God’s unchanging Word daily. By patiently seeking the Lord each day, Christians will find comfort in trouble, peace in suffering, and hope in tragedy. 

Source

Seeking Gods Heart Devotional

https://get.revelationmedia.org/seekinggodsheart

Video: I Have Decided To Follow Jesus No Turning Back

 

Story Behind The Song "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus 

No Turning Back

About 150 years ago, there was a great revival in Wales, England.

As a result of this, many missionaries came all the way from England to northeast India to spread the Gospel.

The region known as Assam comprised of tribal communities that were quite primitive and well known for being hostile and aggressive.

The tribesmen were also called HEAD-HUNTERS because of a social custom which required the male members of the community to collect as many heads as possible, hence a man’s strength and ability to protect his wife was assessed by the number of heads he had collected. Therefore youths of marriageable age would try and collect as many heads as possible and hang them on the walls of his house, as the more heads a man had, the more eligible he was considered.

Into this hostile environment came a group of Welsh missionaries spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ but naturally they were not welcomed.

However, One Welsh missionary who was warned to go back because of the tribe's extremely hostile nature but ignored the warnings because he believed even these savage headhunters should have the opportunity to hear about the mercy of God, finally succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children.

The man, a Garo tribesman from the tribe of "Meghalaya" named 'Nokseng' and his family heard the Gospel and received Jesus as their Savior. The good news was too good to keep to themselves and they shared the Gospel with others in the tribe.

This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity.

Angry, the village Chief summoned all the villagers, He then called the family who had first converted, to renounce their faith in public or face execution.

Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man sung his reply,
“I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.”

Enraged at the refusal of the man, the Chief ordered his archers to arrow down the two children and they did.

As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the Chief asked, “Will you deny your faith?
You have lost both your children already. You will lose your wife too.”

But the man replied, again singing,
“Though none go with me, still I will follow, No turning back.”

The Chief was beside himself with fury and ordered his wife to be arrowed down and she was. In a moment, she joined her two children in death.

Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.”

In the face of death the tribesman looked the chief in the eyes and replied,
"The cross before me the world behind me no turning back, No turning back."

The chief could not believe his ears and shot the tribesman dead like the rest of his family.

Jesus said if a grain of wheat dies it bears much fruit, and that day many of the villagers who witnessed the persecution of that tribesman and his family also decided to follow Jesus - even the chief himself became a follower of Jesus Christ.

The tribes man's last words became the song of the village and today a hundred years later it is sung all around the world.

"I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.""

https://www.nairaland.com/8326658/story-behind-song-decided-follow

Saturday Sermon: A Christian Without the Holy Spirit

A Christian without the Holy Spirit is like an egg without yolk.

Lack of the gift of discernment of the Holy Spirit has made many Christians to be deceived.

A true Christian does not need the validation of the world. 

As it is written in -

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 King James Version (KJV)

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
The Publisher/Editor,
The Rhema Blog
Since 2005

What if God Makes An Igbo Pastor the Next G.O of the Redeemed Christian Church of God?

Is it true that millions of Yorubas in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) will leave if God makes the next General Overseer an Igbo man?

I can even hear many Yorubas saying, "Ọlọrun  Májẹ!" meaning "God forbid!".

Why would they leave and migrate to the other popular "Yoruba"  churches, "Winners Chapel" of Bishop David Oyedepo, General Overseer of the Living Faith Ministries and Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM) of Pastor Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya? Because they believe that the RCCG is  their Yoruba Pentecostal church.

I know what I am talking about, because I was working in the office of the G. O  with the Redemption Light magazine, the  official publication of the RCCG in 1998 as a  counselor. I know that the Yorubas see the church as tneir own.

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.

Even if the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye tells them, "My Daddy said the next GO is an Igbo man."

They will say, "Haba! Daddy Adeboye should have told Almighty Daddy of all daddies, pe kole werk! That we no go gree. We will not accept an Igbo pastor to be the new G.O of our church.

Majority of the Yorubas believe that RCCG is a Yoruba church. But they are wrong. 

It was a white garment Yoruba church until God changed the name to the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Since then, it stopped being a white garment Yoruba church and has become a universal Pentecostal church belonging to God until the day of Rapture.

Remember what happened in January, 2017?

Ask Daddy Adeboye.

.

The fact is the Yoruba Assistant General Overseer is already rehearsing to succeed Pastor Adeboye and take over the leadership of the RCCG. 

Many of the Yorubas are even calling for his voluntary retirement since he is an old man of 82 years.

But they don't know that there is no retirement for him until God decides that or when he tells God that he is tired and wants to rest. 

I have heard and read in his biography, Stories of Pastor E. A. Adeboye: The Power of Testimony, that he was even poisoned to kill him, but the poisoned food did not kill him and in fact, to their amazement, he requested for more of the food to eat. 

He was ordained by the Almighty God and only God can decide the next G. O of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Case closed.

- by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The Publisher/Editor,

The Rhema Blog

Since 2005 to date.

Now 20 years anniversary of publishing, sharing and spreading the Word of God in obedience to the Great Commission of our Messiah JESUS Christ.

The Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that published it.

-  Psalm 68:11. 

You can donate to support the blog with all the thanksgivings to Almighty God.

The Rhema Blog is an authorised distributor of Stories of Pastor E. A. Adeboye: The Power of Testimony, Large Print

1st Edition:ISBN-13: 978-1544697956, ISBN-10: 1544697953.

Open Letter To Churches on the Idolatry of Worshipping the Dead

Open Letter To Churches on the Idolatry of Worshipping the Dead 

Churches, especially the majority of the Pentecostal denominations in Nigeria must stop their idolatry of worshipping the dead by delaying burials of churchgoers who passed away for weeks, months and even years, because of ungodly reasons such as not having enough money for the burial ceremony.

It is ungodly and wrong to have fund raising to hire buses for burial ceremony with eating and drinking and sewing uniforms when your church has failed to raise money for evangelism and charity which our Lord JESUS Christ commanded us in the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations as He said in 

Matthew 28:19 ►

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"

►

OBEY THE COMMANDMENT OF JESUS CHRIST as He said in 1 John 2:4: "If anyone says, "I know Him," but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Having public ceremony for the burial of the dead is ungodly and abomination in true Christianity.

This is the idolatry of worshipping the dead by useless ceremony that is against the commandments of Almighty God.

Stop all the abominations against the Word of God.

I have seen a church having more fund raising of money for burials than evangelism and charity.

And the ministers lie that they are led by the Holy Spirit.

Which holy spirit?

A church will raise more than one million naira for a burial ceremony of a churchgoer that they failed to support financially when he was alive and struggling to make ends meet.

Then you spend hundreds of thousands of naira for his burial.

Is this true Christianity or false religion in the camouflage of Christianity.

The worst is the church that prays for the dead.

Stop the charade of the parade of fake Christianity in the idolatry of burial ceremonies.

The dead don't need your ceremonies, prayers and tears.

Mark 12:27-

 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Solemnly mourn with the bereaved and comfort them as much as you can with love.

- From The Rhema Blog,

https://therhema.blogspot.com/

Obeying the Great Commission of preaching, publishing, sharing and spreading the Word of God online since 2005.