1 Corinthians 13 (English Standard Version)

The Way of Love
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We often think about this passage being in conjunction with weddings and couples, but Paul was addressing a different group of people when wrote this passage. Paul was addressing the entire church of Corinth, who were being unloving towards one another. If you look at the passage right before this one is talking about how there is a lack of cooperation in the church. The eye is saying to the hand, "I don't need you."

Love is an action. Love is self-sacrificial. Love over comes our sin nature. Later in this passage it discusses how when we where children we did what children do. Our words, our thoughts, our behavior all were child like. When we become men/women we are suppose to put these things behind us. As men and women of God, we are suppose to exemplify love. We are not to be caught up in our own childish ways. I all to often find my self angry in a situation. I would like to think that I would rise above it and still be able to show God's love to the world, yet I find myself more concerned with my childish desires. I wish to be a woman of God; however, the grace and love I wish to bestow on others alludes my grasp. My mind has sought out worldly solutions to my problems.


Dear Lord, may You give me the love I need to be able to show Your love to the world. Father, I need Your guidance as I go through out my day. That my actions could be traced back to You. One of our greatest testimonies is our actions. My actions are childish, seeking my own desires and gratification. Purify my life of everything that is not You, Father God. Give me love. Give me faith. Give me hope. Amen.

Bible Gateway recently came out with an article with the most popular passages from different cities. Some of the these passages surprised me. Psalm 91 and John 17 both made the list. Other passages did not. Psalm 23 was is every city, but Singapore. 1 Corinthians 13 was in every cities list. I have decided to go over each passage for the next week or so. I have fallen out of doing a regular devotion. I am praying God gives me wisdom as I go over these passages and renews my mind as His.

ది ప్రోదిగల్

I will obey

Here I am
Stripped of my earthly pride
Because with it I would have died

Here I am
Tired my own strategies
Now I'm ready to believe

No matter the cost
No matter the loss
No thought to my life and doing it my way
No matter the chance I have to take
Here's my all
I will obey

Here I am
Confident in your right
Cause you have already won my life

Here I am
Quiet my anxiety and fear
Cause you are already here  

Humbleness

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I recently started taking karate with my sisters. After this latest class, the Sensi was talking to my sisters and I. He told us this:

"I have taken pictures of students when they first start learning the kata. I then will show them later those pictures. Those with out this, those without humbleness don't see a difference in the stances or how they have improved."

Am I humble? Can I see a difference in my walk with Christ? Have I grown in humility towards God? This reminds me of my father. Sometimes at night I will walk past my parents room and I will see my father on his knees praying. It is not often I see people on their knees before the Lord. Am I humbling myself before my God?

James 4:౧౦
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Joshua 1:1-9
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."


Joshua 11:15
15 As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Joshua is the man remembered as the one who did as the Lord commanded. The Lord commanded Joshua to go up against Kings of powerful nations. Joshua did it. Joshua was even commanded to put to death one of his own people for taking plunder from one of the forbidden cities. Joshua did it.

Joshua was an aide to Moses. He had the opportunity to be mentored by Moses for over since he was a youth. Joshua was also a warrior. He led the Israelite into battle many times; however, his most famous time is when he followed the Lords instructions in the battle of Jericho.

I wish that God would grant we the faith and courage that He granted Joshua. I pray that I follow closely all the commands of God. May I to have the courage and strength as God uses me.

Psalm 119:74
74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me,
for I have put my hope in your word.

Deuteronomy 4:7
7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

Recently I have been having a hard time in a number of my relationships. As I am a relational person, this is very hard on me. I read this verse and it spoke to me. What other faith has a god that is so near us? What other god has blessed me time and time again in my life? What god not only excepts me, but covers my many and continually brings me back into reconciliation with God? Who continually re-inspires me? There has been no other god, besides the Living God who has provided miracle after miracle in my life.

Deuteronomy 6:20-25
20 In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" 21 tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

Psalm 103:17
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-


My older sister is about to have a baby. She and her husband had a hard time getting pregnant and there was a lot of sorrow involved for her. One day she and I were talking on the phone. I had mentioned that I was the waiting stage in my life meaning waiting for a boyfriend/husband. She said how she was also waiting for someone. We prayed that day together for who we each were waiting. After we said goodbye and I hung up the phone, God started to put this blessing in my heart. I wrote it down. When my sister announced she was pregnant, God had already given me something to give to her. I pray that this child grows up with the fear of the Lord in his heart and the ability to show the nations of love of God.

Numbers 18

²⁰ The LORD said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites."

God in this passage is telling Aaron about the duties of the Priests and the offering that the Priest receives. More specifically God is telling Aaron how God wants to be steward with the offering that the Israelites bring to God. The best of the land is given as an offering to God. The best wheat, the best wine from the winepress, the perfect lambs, and all the first fruits of the land are given to Aaron and his family as they serve as priests. Yet God wanted Aaron and his family to remember Him in all the ways He supplied their needs. He asked that they eat certain foods as holy and set apart. What an awesome reminder in their day to day lives of how the Lord provides. Oh, that I too would dwell on all the ways my Savior provides and gives an offering for me. May God and Jesus Christ be my inheritance.

Numbers 15:22-31

²² " 'Now if you unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the LORD gave Moses- ²³ any of the LORD's commands to you through him, from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come- ²⁴ and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven, for it was not intentional and they have brought to the LORD for their wrong an offering made by fire and a sin offering. ²⁶ The whole Israelite community and the aliens living among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong.

²⁷ " 'But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest is to make atonement before the LORD for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. ²⁹ One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien.

³⁰ " 'But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the LORD's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.' "

In this passage it talks about three types of sin. Unintentional sin that is done by the community. Unintentional sin that is done by and individual. Intentional sin. In this passage God forgives unintentional sin if the right steps are taken once the individuals involved realize their errors. I have found myself in the middle of a situation and suddenly realized that I was saying or doing something wrong; however, I almost on a daily basis find myself faced with a situation and I knowingly do or say the wrong thing. I am reminded of Samuel's words to Saul.

1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Do I have the heart of Saul? Am I saying in my heart, "I can just make it up to God later." God, can you place in me the heart of David, who was ready to obey you and worship you at any moment? Give me a whole heart that seeks after you.

Psalm 119:74

⁷⁴ May those who fear you rejoice when they see me,
for I have put my hope in your word

This is me. I am so distracted by media... and sleep. Sleep has become a very distracting area of my life as well, but that's another story. I recently heard a Preacher on the radio say something to the effect of this. Like personal trainer uses exercise to help build muscle, strength, and endurance in a client, so does God. God has chosen to use specific things to grow and strengthen us. If we abandon prayer, scripture, and fellowship; how can we grow strong? God has chosen to use these simple things to bring us nigh to Him.

Change me Father, into a woman who follows you with out distraction. Give me strength and motivation to seek after you.

If you touch my life
What will it be like
If you live in mine
What will it be like
If you enter my life
Will it be you and I
Always you and I

If you hold my hand
Will it comfort me
If you hold me close
Will you understand me
If I let you close
Will you never leave
Always be with me

How do I decide
If you and I are right
Will I be safe
To let you inside
To let you enjoy the beauty
And learn to live with the ugly...in me

If I touch your life
Will I understand you
If I live in your life
Will I hurt you
If I enter your life
Will I love you
Always love you

John 15:1-17
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Last time I posted I talked about the role of the players in the story: The Father, Jesus Christ, and ourselves. In the first sentence of the next paragraph we have a wonderful promise. This promise is that we will bear much fruit. I like being useful. If I feel useless and unneeded, I feel unloved and unloving. Doing things for and with people is how I show affection. Here I have a calling to bear fruit, to be useful. I am called to remain in Christ and to have His word remain in me. So that I can glorify my Father. How much more useful could I be. My purpose in life is to Glorify GOD!

John 15:1-17
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Here we have a wonderful passage broken into three paragraphs. The first paragraph discusses our dependency on Christ. He is the only thing that can save us from being cut off and being unable to bear fruit. Without Him we cannot bear fruit. That said there is also a downside to remaining in the vine. We must be pruned. We must have removed anything that is undesired and superfluous. That is the Father's job as the Gardener. This passage defines the role of Christ and the Father. It also defines our role. We are to remain in Christ.

This is my Great Grandmother Beulah... and she is Awesome! ;-)

---

Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling,
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee.

Refrain
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go.

Though they lead o'er the cold, dark mountains,
Seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam's fountains,
Helping the weak.

Refrain
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go.

If they lead through the temple holy,
Preaching the Word;
Or in homes of the poor and lowly,
Serving the Lord.

Refrain
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go.

Though, dear Lord, in Thy pathway keeping,
We follow Thee;
Through the gloom of that place of weeping,
Gethsemane!

Refrain
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go.

Every year or so I find a verse that really captures me. It speaks to me were I am at in my life. Past verses have been Galatians 5:6, Matthew 20:28, Deuteronomy 30:6, and Corinthians 13. The latest verse God has used in my life is:

John 15:5

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

"Apart from me you can do nothing." I am leaning that I must be in Christ every waking moment. Yet I find this hard. I long to bear good fruit, great fruit in Christ. Yet my heart is continually wondering. This verse lends me comfort as I strive to remain in Him. I will bear much fruit if I have faith and remain in Christ. Hallelujah!

To often my focus is on the fruit and not on Christ Himself. I focus on being good, sweet, and nice. When I pursue those things my sin nature appears and I fail. I act in a mean, nasty, and vicious way towards others.

Father, may You live in me from day to day, moment by moment. May You be at that center, may You be the reason of all I say and do. I have complete and unwavering faith in You. And may You produce much fruit in me because of my reliance on You. Amen.

Do you ever feel abandoned by God? Do you wonder if He is there? It might have been brought on by a devastating blow. How could God allow this to happen? Maybe it just happened in the monotony of life. Shouldn't a life with Christ be exciting? Joyful? But we have our won way of answering this dryness, this emptiness. We throw ourselves into doing what should bring us closer to God. What can I do to make God happy with me? Devotion times are lengthened. Prayers are moved to closets. If there is a need at church I am there to fill the missing space. And yet I am still void and I am exhausted. Or... I give up and rebel. It's so much easier. Let my sinful nature take over for a while. Just go on cruise control and enjoy myself for a while. That fills me. Fills me with filth and guilt. Fills me, but does not complete me. Now I am not just empty and yearning for something. Now I am broken and hurting. Two rather bleak options. Aren't you glad that God created a third option? It warms my soul knowing He provided a way.

Galatians 5:6

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Wow!...How amazing!...Wow?...What does that look like? Faith expressing itself through love?

Luke 7:36-50

³⁶Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. ³⁷When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, ³⁸and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.

⁴¹"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^a]">[a] and the other fifty. ⁴²Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

⁴³Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

⁴⁴Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

⁴⁹The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

⁵⁰Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Here we have two very different people with the same problem. There is a Pharisee and a prostitute. One of them hedges themselves with rules and regulations. Man made rules that only push them farther from God. Unable to understand what it means to have faith...and therefore love. Then the other who would not put trust in God. Once again a lack of faith and so there is a miss guided and corrupt love. Yet the one of them has something the other does not. A repented heart and... faith. The result... "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

I try and live day to day
I try to live a life of change
But I can't seem to be
A holy child by Your design
A perfect life's so far from mine
Will I ever be free

You are one God
You give us one hope
Called us to be Your own
You are one Lord
You give us one faith
Apportioned to me Your grace

I struggle to show humbleness
I don't portray gentlness
I don't feel this bond of peace
Unable to bear patiently
Can't show the love given me
Yet you call me to be part of this unity

You are one God
You give us one hope
Called us to be Your own
You are one Lord
You give us one faith
Apportioned to me Your grace

You've called
To live worthy
Worthy of what I've received
So work over me
In and through me
The power of You in me

You are one God
You give us one hope
Called us to be Your own
You are one Lord
You give us one faith
Apportioned to me Your grace

So..... I haven't posted in a long time.

Deuteronomy 30:6

⁶ The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

This is a passage that I have been meditating and thinking a lot about. When I was younger I was always waiting and yearning for this magical time in my life where I would change. I thought eventually in my life I would reach this spiritual peak or as a friend put it a "spiritual plateau." A place where I am finally good enough or holy enough to not struggle with a wondering heart. That I would finally get down the basics of being a "good" christian. I don't think I will ever be there. We will constantly struggle with sin in our lives. I don't think I will ever be able to love God perfectly. Yet that is the beauty of it. I unable to even love God, yet He loves me. He loves me so perfectly, tenderly, and overwhelmingly. I am in awe of my Savior and His loving grace for me.

So much has happened...I don't even know were to begin. Maybe at the beginning.

I've been attending a Latino Church in Annapolis. I started going there to practice my Spanish and helping my friend do Children's Church. This church has given so much to me in the way of hospitality and Christian fellowship.
My friend has a love and passion for ministering to these people that is amazing to watch. She would love to someday start a Orphanage in El Salvador. She and I have joked/dreamed of going together to start this orphanage. She would run the orphanage. I would be the nurse and cook meals for the hundreds of children that we care for.
A few weeks ago a man from a sister church of the Latino church in Annapolis came. He told my friend he had land in El Salvador and would like to give her land to build her orphanage. God is so amazing how He works His will.
Now we both need your prayers.
~Pray for my friend as she explores this. May God show her His path.
~Pray for her as she will need money and support to go.
~Pray that she has the support of her church.
~Pray that her ministry would be effective in El Salvador.
~Pray for me as I'm finishing school. May I finish strong so I can be a good nurse.
~Pray for me as I am searching out God's will. I would love to be a nurse in El Salvador, but God might have something bigger in mind for me. May He direct my path and make it clear.
~Pray for both of us as we make desicions. May we grow in our faith and lean all the more on our Savior.