Dear friends,
Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. (God does not love as the world loves, but His love is perfect and good. In our lives there maybe people who use the word love, but their actions do not show love. The true characteristics of love, the way that God designed it to be, are described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son (Jesus Christ) into the world that we might live through him. This is love (this is true love): not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (Not as the world loves but as God loves). No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him (since by love we are in him and him in us). There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a lair. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (This includes everyone from every nation, tribe, and tongue, for we were all created by God and for God).
1 John 4:7-21 (NIV)
(Commentary or thoughts in parentheses by me, Chelsea Davis)
July 02, 2011
July 01, 2011
With One Heart\Con Un Corazon
With One Heart\Con Un Corazon by: Proskuneo Ministries
This week we, the students at ILE, have been able to worhsip God in many languages. We have worshipped in Spanish, English, and Korean, along with a few other languages. It has been a wonderful time of worship and reflection on our Lord and Savior. Every nation, every tribe, and in every langauge will one day worship the Lord united as one. This has and continues to be one of my heart´s desires. Over the past few weeks, God has been opening my heart and mind in order to really worship Him in Spanish. I am at the point now where I can sing and pray to God with the same feeling as in English, this is harder than it sounds so it takes time. It doesn´t matter what language you speak or really how you worship as long as you are being obedient to the Lord. In my heart I praise the Lord, but in many languages I worship the Lord.
June 30, 2011
Posting Comments
I have now enabled my settings so anyone should be able to post a comment, even without a Google account. Thanks to a friend that showed me how to change my settings. Although, if you dont have an account your comment will come up as anonymous but write your name along with your comment because I would love to know that it was you commenting :-)
Continuing on...
So in continuing with this idea of relationships and loving others like God has loved us, it is also important to forgive others. We should forgive others just as God has forgiven us. Think of the Lord's prayer, "Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". If God is going to forgive us of our sins we must also learn to forgive others for their sins.
One of the hardest and most freeing things you can do is to forgive someone who has hurt you deeply. It is not always easy to forgive but it can be done. We have to offer everything up to the Lord, even our relationships with other people. We have to forgive in order to really be able to love. Asking/Receiving forgiveness is an act of love.
I have thought for a few years now that I have forgiven everyone who has wronged me, that is until I came to Costa Rica. For the past couple months, God has been continually bringing up a past hurt in my life that I have suppressed and tried to deny.
For a while, I have been trying to work through this hurt/pain on my own. I have opened up and started talking to people about it in order for me to fully understand my issue and pain. I started praying to God to help me through it and yesterday God answered my prayers.
As I sat in chapel before the sermon started, a woman got up and shared her testimony of forgiveness and love. Just then, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest as God showed me that my hurt, pain, and issues were the result of an unforgiving heart. I am not sure why forgiveness never entered my mind before, but I am so grateful to God for showing me the way to go. I needed to forgive those people who had hurt me so many years ago and stop projecting that anger and pain on others. I needed to offer everything up to the Lord. I did this by forgiving others by acknowledging the pain they caused me and by making the decision to love them just as God loves them. I chose to let go of that hurt and pain, and I also confessed my own sins to the Lord and asked for forgiveness. Later on, I shared with a friend my decision to forgive those people, I confessed my sins again, and asked her to help keep me accountable.
It is so crucial that we do these things in order to live at peace with one another and to fully experience the joy and life God has to offer. Forgiveness is something we all need, but it is also something we need to do. Because of the hurt and pain you may feel forgiving might be something you have to do daily and pray about. You might have to daily forgive those who have hurt you until that pain is gone and you have completely given it over to the Lord. Remember, love keeps no records of wrongs. Once you forgive someone, that pain and hurt that they may have caused is to no longer be used against that person. It is to be forgotten.
"Lord forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".
One of the hardest and most freeing things you can do is to forgive someone who has hurt you deeply. It is not always easy to forgive but it can be done. We have to offer everything up to the Lord, even our relationships with other people. We have to forgive in order to really be able to love. Asking/Receiving forgiveness is an act of love.
I have thought for a few years now that I have forgiven everyone who has wronged me, that is until I came to Costa Rica. For the past couple months, God has been continually bringing up a past hurt in my life that I have suppressed and tried to deny.
For a while, I have been trying to work through this hurt/pain on my own. I have opened up and started talking to people about it in order for me to fully understand my issue and pain. I started praying to God to help me through it and yesterday God answered my prayers.
As I sat in chapel before the sermon started, a woman got up and shared her testimony of forgiveness and love. Just then, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest as God showed me that my hurt, pain, and issues were the result of an unforgiving heart. I am not sure why forgiveness never entered my mind before, but I am so grateful to God for showing me the way to go. I needed to forgive those people who had hurt me so many years ago and stop projecting that anger and pain on others. I needed to offer everything up to the Lord. I did this by forgiving others by acknowledging the pain they caused me and by making the decision to love them just as God loves them. I chose to let go of that hurt and pain, and I also confessed my own sins to the Lord and asked for forgiveness. Later on, I shared with a friend my decision to forgive those people, I confessed my sins again, and asked her to help keep me accountable.
It is so crucial that we do these things in order to live at peace with one another and to fully experience the joy and life God has to offer. Forgiveness is something we all need, but it is also something we need to do. Because of the hurt and pain you may feel forgiving might be something you have to do daily and pray about. You might have to daily forgive those who have hurt you until that pain is gone and you have completely given it over to the Lord. Remember, love keeps no records of wrongs. Once you forgive someone, that pain and hurt that they may have caused is to no longer be used against that person. It is to be forgotten.
"Lord forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".
June 28, 2011
My Heart
"The More I Seek You" By: Kari Jabe
The more I seek You
The more I find You
The more I find You
The more I love You
I want to sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand
Lay back against You and breathe
Feel Your heart beat
This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand
I melt in your peace
It's overwhelming
Seeking God is something we all should do. There are many verses in the Bible that talk about seeking God and His Kingdom. Here are only a few: (Read these verses slow and let them sink in.)
I also love in the song above how it talks about God's love being so deep. "This love is so deep". In the Bible, God's love is described as abounding, eternal, enduring forever, great, unfailing, and rich. The Bible also says, "God is love". Therefore since God is love, all of the characteristics of love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 apply to God and His love. God's love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, and it does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. God's love always protect, trust, hopes, and perseveres. God's love never fails.
God's love is so deep. We are to have that same deep love for others. We are not suppose to pick and choose who receives that love, but we are to love like God has loved us. God tells us to love one another, for love comes from Him. God is love. He showed us that love through His Son, Jesus Christ. God's love is made complete in us because if we love one another God lives in us. We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:7-21)
We are to live in an intimate relationship with the Lord, but also with other people. Relationships are so important and make up a part of who we are as human beings and as God's creation, we are relational beings. Let us seek first a relationship with the Lord and then out of that relationship share God's love/our love with others.
My own personal prayer:
"Lord, let me be willing to be vulnerable with others and build relationships that may please and glorify you. Remind me daily that there is no fear in love. Teach me to love those who I find difficult to love. Love always trust so teach me to trust those around me, whom I struggle to trust. Please continue to give me discernment and help me to grow in wisdom. Lord thank you for always keeping your promises. I love you. May that love I have for you and you for me shine through my life. Thank you for loving me even though I am unworthy. Thank you Lord, Amen."
The more I seek You
The more I find You
The more I find You
The more I love You
I want to sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand
Lay back against You and breathe
Feel Your heart beat
This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand
I melt in your peace
It's overwhelming
Seeking God is something we all should do. There are many verses in the Bible that talk about seeking God and His Kingdom. Here are only a few: (Read these verses slow and let them sink in.)
- Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His Kingdom.."
- Deuteronomy 4:29, "But if from there you seek the LORD, your God, you will find him if you seek him will all your heart and with all your soul."
- 2 Corinthians 15:2, "The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you."
- Psalm 9:10, "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."
- Psalm 27:4, "One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."
- Psalm 34:10, "Fear the LORD, you his holy people for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing."
- Psalm 105:4, "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."
I also love in the song above how it talks about God's love being so deep. "This love is so deep". In the Bible, God's love is described as abounding, eternal, enduring forever, great, unfailing, and rich. The Bible also says, "God is love". Therefore since God is love, all of the characteristics of love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 apply to God and His love. God's love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, and it does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. God's love always protect, trust, hopes, and perseveres. God's love never fails.
God's love is so deep. We are to have that same deep love for others. We are not suppose to pick and choose who receives that love, but we are to love like God has loved us. God tells us to love one another, for love comes from Him. God is love. He showed us that love through His Son, Jesus Christ. God's love is made complete in us because if we love one another God lives in us. We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:7-21)
We are to live in an intimate relationship with the Lord, but also with other people. Relationships are so important and make up a part of who we are as human beings and as God's creation, we are relational beings. Let us seek first a relationship with the Lord and then out of that relationship share God's love/our love with others.
My own personal prayer:
"Lord, let me be willing to be vulnerable with others and build relationships that may please and glorify you. Remind me daily that there is no fear in love. Teach me to love those who I find difficult to love. Love always trust so teach me to trust those around me, whom I struggle to trust. Please continue to give me discernment and help me to grow in wisdom. Lord thank you for always keeping your promises. I love you. May that love I have for you and you for me shine through my life. Thank you for loving me even though I am unworthy. Thank you Lord, Amen."
June 27, 2011
Spiritual Emphasis Week (a.k.a. SEW)
This week at ILE is Spiritual Emphasis Week, what this means is every day we will have two chapel services and the teachers are not allowed to give us any homework. The morning chapel is trilingual (Spanish, English, and Korean). The afternoon service is in English and we break into small groups. I love the speakers and the worship team we have this week from the U.S.A., they are all so good and super nice.
This afternoon in the women's group we focused on 1 Peter 4:7-11.
"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." (NIV)
There is urgency in this passage along with a lot of responsibility. How much would your mindset and attitude change when you are serving or speaking if every time you did these things you did them as if God was right there besides you? If when you spoke, you spoke as one speaking the words of God and served as with the strength of God. That is pretty amazing to think about, what a difference there would be not only in us but also in the lives around us.
What a difference there would be if we all loved each other deeply. I love that the word deeply is included there because to me that shows intimacy. Are you willing to put your heart out there and love others just as God has loved you? Because as Scripture says, "Love covers a multitude of sins". Just think of God's love for you and how He gave His one and only Son, Jesus to die for you and for your sins.
When you choose to love someone deeply, you also choose to forgive them and their sins. You don't hang onto their sin and use it against them, you forgive and move forward, because you love them deeply.
We do all of these things "so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11.
This afternoon in the women's group we focused on 1 Peter 4:7-11.
"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." (NIV)
There is urgency in this passage along with a lot of responsibility. How much would your mindset and attitude change when you are serving or speaking if every time you did these things you did them as if God was right there besides you? If when you spoke, you spoke as one speaking the words of God and served as with the strength of God. That is pretty amazing to think about, what a difference there would be not only in us but also in the lives around us.
What a difference there would be if we all loved each other deeply. I love that the word deeply is included there because to me that shows intimacy. Are you willing to put your heart out there and love others just as God has loved you? Because as Scripture says, "Love covers a multitude of sins". Just think of God's love for you and how He gave His one and only Son, Jesus to die for you and for your sins.
When you choose to love someone deeply, you also choose to forgive them and their sins. You don't hang onto their sin and use it against them, you forgive and move forward, because you love them deeply.
We do all of these things "so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11.
June 26, 2011
Sunday
Today was a good day when it came to knowing Spanish until I went to see Cars 2, I didn't understand 90% of it. Although, it was an alright movie. If I had been more interested and actually paid attention I might have understood more. I started falling asleep during the middle of the show. =D Today has been a busy day but I had a lot of fun.
I would write more than just that, but I am really tired so I am going to bed. Although, before I leave here is my prayer...
Lord of Lords and King of Kings thank you for showing your presence to me today in church. It is really hard for me to pay attention sometimes because I have a hard time following, but thank you for allowing me to understand more today.
God may your presence be known in Valle del Sol. I know you care for the children there more than I do, so may they come know your love and your amazing grace.
Lord I pray also for all of the health and lives of my family and friends. I love them deeply and it hurts me sometimes to be away from them. God please be specifically with my grandparents, in their times of weakness may they lean on your strength. Please continue to bless them with a new day.
God I know there are many things on my heart and many prayer requests I want to share, but God may you search my heart and answer them according to your will. You are good and holy. Please hear my prayers, amen.
I would write more than just that, but I am really tired so I am going to bed. Although, before I leave here is my prayer...
Lord of Lords and King of Kings thank you for showing your presence to me today in church. It is really hard for me to pay attention sometimes because I have a hard time following, but thank you for allowing me to understand more today.
God may your presence be known in Valle del Sol. I know you care for the children there more than I do, so may they come know your love and your amazing grace.
Lord I pray also for all of the health and lives of my family and friends. I love them deeply and it hurts me sometimes to be away from them. God please be specifically with my grandparents, in their times of weakness may they lean on your strength. Please continue to bless them with a new day.
God I know there are many things on my heart and many prayer requests I want to share, but God may you search my heart and answer them according to your will. You are good and holy. Please hear my prayers, amen.
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