Unconditional Love – Share It, Experience It

As I have studied of Ephesians 5:1-7, I noticed a certain theme that each Christian should embrace within their relationship with Christ and others.  “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them” (Ephesians 1-7)  I want us to focus on the word “love” that is portrayed for God and man in this verse. “Love” in the Greek, has several meanings, but we shall only unpack two; “Eros and Agape”. First, Eros is a conditional type of love, it is where we get our English word, “Erotica” Now as soon a you heard that word, I am sure you, like I, thought of “sex” but, Eros was more than that to the Greeks, it was a conditional love. There are conditions that I personally place on this kind of love. Eros was a selfish kind of love. I love G. Harvey artwork it gives me great pleasure, I love classical music when I meditate and the list goes on. Eros is temporary, it does not last. I love  “What type of love that best represents their school, community, and even church, their answer 100% was “Eros” (Dr. Chap Clark, Teens and Sex 2012). 

In contrast, “Agape” love is a “giving” the kind of love for a person., it is unconditional, and it expects nothing it return. “Agape” love in a lasting love that endures all things. The Apostle Paul penned the words which have  become known as the “Love Chapter”. “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but does not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV). “Agape” love is a committed lasting love in a relationship that both people share without expecting love in return but if both man and wife have this love for each they are empowered sexually, emotionally and spirituality. They are one!

I suggest an exercise with your spouse. Ask them “Why do you say, I love you?” Do not interrupt and listen. Then you share why you say “I love you” and finally together read aloud, 1 Thessalonians (4:3-8 NIV) and discuss how your relationship compares. Communication is one of the key issues that causes issues within relationships. The time you spend this week with your spouse will never come again, don’t let it pass without making memories.

Eddie has a B.A. in Christian Counseling. He holds a Certification from the American Association of Christian Counseling in Pastoral Counseling and is currently pursuing his Masters Degree. For questions or comments  or prayers please contact him at eddieturner2502@gmail.com

God Word, the Almighty Stress Reliever?

Did you start your day dreading all the stress you know you are about to experience? If you are like me you started stressing about the stress. When I speak of stress I think of “hair pulling, stomping on the floor, worrying about everything kind of stress. Today we are going to talk about stress and how we take a few steps toward eliminating it in our lives. We all battle with stress but many make no attempt to seek out ways to decompress. We only have to look to the Word of God for “God’s Stress Pill”.

Stress is the common term for general adaptation syndrome (GAS), or fight or flight syndrome. It is the body’s natural response to threating situations, it arouses us and gives us the energy we need to resolve or remove ourselves from the situation. Stress can be positive or negative, alerting us to an issue that needs to be addressed. Stress without relief can lead to physical symptoms, headaches, blood pressure, chest pains and problems sleeping. If we do not learn to control stress it will control us. But as Christians, we have our Heavenly Father to help us through our stressful tomes. Philippians 4:7 says, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” We see throughout the Bible, men of God, Prophets, and Kings who struggled with stress and depression. David is seen in Psalm 32:3-4 saying, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old, Through my groaning all the day long,  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;”  and in Psalm 51, “David pleads to God to; “Create in me a clean heart, restore me to the joy of my salvation” (vs.10;12). Then, Elijah, (1 Kings 19:1-18) and of course, the running prophet Jonah (Jonah 4:1-11). What cause all this great biblical characters to display these attitudes and feelings, “Stress”.

But, there are a few practical things that we can do to relief stress in our lives. (1) Attempt to identify what is the cause of the stress, if there are several things, address each one of them. (2) What is God doing in your life? One great stress reliever is seeing God’s purpose through your difficulty. God uses difficulty to develop faith and character in his children. Paul, said, “I have learned to be “CONTENT”. That may be a word we have lost in our society. Go back to Bethel and renew your faith again. The Book of Hebrews is called the “Hall of Faith”. Perhaps that is because Hebrews 11:1 is the best place to find the Biblical definition of faith “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. You can’t have faith without getting out of the boat as Peter found out.”  Take that step of faith and reach out to your Lord. Step (3) get alone with God, no smartphone, computer, just you, your Bible, and God. Listen and pray. As you cultivate a heart hungry for prayer, you will feel His presence throughout your day and stress will be overcome. (4) Share your burdens. Whether you share literally or figuratively, ask other for help. Commune with your church fellowship. (5) Are you doing too much? Even Moses delegated out task when he got overwhelmed. (Exod. 18:13-21) Step (6) check your compass. Stress has a way of orienting us toward the things that are wrong in our lives. Satan uses it to cause us to forget our blessings and the godly things in our life and focus on all the bad stuff. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3)

Tomorrow, you and I will experience different levels of stress. It does not matter who we are or what we do for a living, our age or social status, we will experience stress. Stress and its partner worry will do their best to drag the believer down to the point that they begin to ponder on not what is happening but what MIGHT happen. I leave you with the words of Paul and invite you to take them with you this week as I will, on a 3x5 card or on your Smartphone, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Please email comments or questions to Eddie at eddieturner2502@gmail.com, on his blog http://eddieturner2502.blogspot.com “Wild For the Word” or on Facebook.

Forgiveness Written in Stone        

            As I was reading a few weeks ago I came across a very inspiring Christian story of forgiveness. I’m not sure if it be true, but I think you will agree, its message should be lived daily by every believer. The story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of their journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.” They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, he called to his friend and his friend came and saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE”. The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”  His friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where the winds of forgiveness can blow it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must carve it in stone so that it can endure the elements, never to be forgotten”

            In the Old Testament, sins were remembered so it was necessary to make the journey to the Temple and sacrifice a unblemished bull or goat to cover their sins. But these sacrifices were not complete. The author of Hebrews writes, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves. For this reason the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year can never cover our sins forever or make perfect those who draw near to worship.

            Let’s take a moment for reflection and think of a time in the past when someone “slapped you”, did you write their hurtful actions in stone? I must confess, I carved my un-forgiveness in stone for many years. From time to time I would ponder on the situation and all the old anger that I felt would rise to the surface as I relived the event in my mind. But, soon the Holy Spirit brought upon me a feeling of conviction unlike anything I had ever felt. I knew that I had to find that stone I left in my past and grind off my anger and hurt and humble myself before that friend in the past and forgive. I knew that I could not continue my ministry harboring such anger within me. I reached out to that old friend and forgave them.

            As you spent time in reflection, maybe there is someone, a family member, sibling, church member, friend, adult child, co-worker or ex-spouse that you need to forgive. If your Bible is turned to Hebrews, we read, “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts, I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 16-18, NIV). Christ made the final blood sacrifice so that we would have eternal life. Praise God, What a Savior? We now live under a new covenant and that covenant calls us to forgive as Christ forgave us. Now as

you think about that person who wronged you, let me say, God’s forgiveness of our sins is dependent on our forgiveness of others!! Oops, I forgot that one. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15, NIV)

            Once we forgive we must “not remember the sins and we should act toward the person as we would have God act toward us. Paul penned, “And be ye kind one to another, .forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32, KJV). Finally, we must follow the example that has been set by God; “We must forget the sin against us and then, practice forgiveness at every opportunity. For the Christian, God has forgiven and forgotten their sins and they are promised eternal life. If you are an unbeliever, God wants to forgive you of your sins today but you must repent and come to Christ. You only have to pray:

Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus:

I here and now repent for my sins, and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
I believe that Christ died for me and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures.
I believe that Jesus suffered the penalty of my sins, and paid the full price to clear my debt.
Because He suffered my penalty, I am now free.
I ask your forgiveness, and I now receive Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord ad Savior.
I am a new creation in Christ, born of God with the life of Jesus in me.
I trust the blood of Christ blots out every sin from my life. My record is clean by Your mercy.
According to Your Word, I am now forgiven, I am now saved.
Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, please contact us at 903-729-4938 or at eddieturner2502@gmail.com