Initiate Love

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Luke 15:4

Love takes the lead in looking out for the needs of another. Love does not wait until a suffering soul solicits relief, rather it is the showing of compassion that is a cure in for a wounded spirit. Friends or family may wander away to do their own thing, but love keeps up with them.

Is one person really worth our effort? Absolutely. Jesus died for us as individuals. A schoolmate or relative probably reached out to us when we were outside the faith. Yes, our prayers for a single soul need to be followed up with expressions of their worth to God and to us. Your love is irresistible in its affect on those sucked into the world’s system. Thus, give without expecting anything in return and you will see some return to their Savior. Go love for God.

Moreover, the Lord is relentless in His love for you. Sin may have scattered you to the fringes of His green pastures, but He still desires you. Your soul may feel distant from faith’s security, if so, surrender back to your Great Shepherd’s care. If your confidence is crippled let Christ lift you in His arms of love and carry you back to the care of His faith community. The Lord is concerned about your one concern, so cast your cares on the Lover of your soul.

Above all, receive the love of the Lord and the love of others. Pride resists help, but humility invites support from Jesus and His followers. Love retained is hope regained. Other green pastures beyond the fence posts of faith are a fallacy. Nothing can compete with Christ’s love. Allow Him to shepherd your soul through anger, conflict, rejection and disrespect. The Lord initiates love for you, so you can propagate His love to lost people. Remember my friends love initiates.

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Rev. Todd A. Brown, Pastor
First Baptist of Chesterbrook
1740 Kirby Rd. Mclean Va. 22101

Worship with us Sundays at 10:45am
Vision:" Disciples Making a Kingdom Impact"

Power of forgiveness

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”    Matthew 18:21-22

Sin’s offense hurts. There’s no doubt about it. It wounds indiscriminately, and it is no respecter of persons. Sin builds walls, as it separates and ravishes relationships. Just the sound of the word elicits negative emotions. It is deceptive, carnal, Christless, unfair, sad, and sometimes sadistic. Sin follows a process of desire, conception, birth, maturity, and death. James describes its diabolical development. “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). So sin is not to be taken lightly. Certainly its infliction of pain cannot be ignored for long.
   
Sin invites a response from the one it offends. One option is to fight sin with sin. This is messy and can be long and drawn out. No one wins when sin battles sin, it is like to elephants fighting as while they fight the grass suffers. Sin is rampant, and no one is immune from its consequences. It divides, belittles, and brings on relational suicide. Nonetheless, when you are sinned against, you are to forgive. When someone’s sin assaults your attitude, you are to forgive them. When someone’s sin berates your work, you are to forgive them. When someone’s sin violates your trust or steals your joy or crushes your dreams or steals from you, you are to forgive them. This level of forgiveness is counter-intuitive and countercultural, but it is the way of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  I mean think about it, is this not what He does for us which is evidenced by Him dying for our sins that we might be forgiven for the sins (past, present, and future). Forgiveness is God’s game plan. You will lose if you don’t forgive, for unforgiveness is tortuous to the soul. It is unhealthy to the body and the emotions. Unforgiveness leaves hollow lives in its wake. However, forgiveness is able to let go and let God be the judge that you might experience the joy of the Lord regularly. 
   
Forgiveness cuts through the varying degrees of guilt and erases the entire debt. True forgiveness comes from the heart of the one offended (Matthew 18:35b). Forgiveness is not a flippant acknowledgement. It is a sincere removal of anything that is owed. When the offended one forgives, he wipes out the expectation of an apology, the payback, or the change. It is forgiveness, clear and simple. Forgiveness is letting go, it is the cancellation of a debt owed. It is letting go of the hurt, anger, and shame. When you forgive, you are free. You are free from the shackles of sin. When you forgive, you trust. You trust God to judge others in His time. His judgment is fair, just, and final. God can be trusted with the consequences of sin’s offense.
   
Continue to forgive others because your the Lord continues to forgive you. The Scripture teaches, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Without Christ’s forgiveness, you are lost and undone. Jesus does not deal in forgiveness quotas. The forgiveness of the cross was swift, full, final, and forever. Unlock your relational restraints with the key of forgiveness. Write a letter with tear-soaked ink that documents your forgiveness. Call or e-mail someone today and let them know that because you are forgiven, you forgive them. Set others free with forgiveness, and you will be free. There is freedom in Christ. Forgive fast and forgive often. The forgiveness of Christ is yesterday, today, and forever it is for you to exercise it.

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Rev. Todd A. Brown, Pastor
First Baptist of Chesterbrook
1740 Kirby Rd.  Mclean Va. 22101

Worship with us Sundays at 10:45am
Vision:" Disciples Making a Kingdom Impact"