Christ Has Loved Us!

Christ has loved us
“There is no other solution to the marvelous mysteries of His Incarnation and Sacrificial Death but this: Christ has loved us.

There is not a circumstance of our Lord’s history which is not another form or manifestation of love.

His incarnation is love stooping.
His sympathy is love weeping.
His compassion is love supporting.
His grace is love acting.
His teaching is the voice of love.
His silence is the repose of love.
His patience is the restraint of love.
His obedience is the labor of love.
His suffering is the travail of love.
His cross is the altar of love.
His death is the burnt offering of love.
His resurrection is the triumph of love.
His ascension into heaven is the enthronement of love.
His sitting down at the right hand of God is the intercession of love.

Such is the deep, the vast, the boundless ocean of Christ’s love!”—Octavius Winslow, The Sympathy of Christ

From Of First Importance

Kindness is on her tongue...

Kind words are sympathetic, compassionate, and biblically loving. A kind woman is apt to say something like. "I know this must be hard for you. Is there anything I can do to make it easier?" or "I'm so sorry that this is hard. Let me help you." She is kind when she opens her mouth.

~Martha Peace from Becoming a Titus 2 Woman.

Proverbs 31:26 The excellent wife "opens her mouth in wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."

Be mindful and purposeful today that all of your words are kind.

All I Have Is Christ!

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still
But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

Sovereign Grace Music

Sacrificial Love Proves Genuine Faith

How are you doing in the area of genuinely loving others? Is it a chore or do you strive to love as Christ loved? Agape love is the love that gives. It is completely unselfish.

John MacArthur says in Strength For Today:

This is the highest form of love, which all the other virtues in 2 Peter 1 ultimately lead to. It seeks another's good, no matter what the cost. Agape was exemplified perfectly by Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. But what does this highest type of love look like? A brief survey of the *one anothers* in the New testament gives an excellent picture. We are commanded to:

Edify one another (Rom 14:19)
Serve one another (Gal 5:13)
Bear one another's burdens (Gal 6:2)
Submit to one another (Eph 5:21)
Forgive ano another (Col 3:13)
Instruct one another (Col 3:16)
Comfort one another (1 Thess 4:18)
Rebuke one another (Titus 1:13)
Encourage one another to do good (Heb 10:24-25)
Confess sins to one another (James 5:16)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)
Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9-10)

Dr. MacArthur goes on to say:

The Lord Jesus Christ was involved with individuals. He was a true friend who caringly, lovingly, and sensitively interacted with feeble, needy, and unimportant people and made them eternally important. Nevertheless we still find people spiritualizing love into a meaningless term. "I love so-and-so in the Lord" really means, "She irks me, but I guess I have to love her if she is a believer." Don't let yourself say that.

Instead, display genuine love.

The Person of Christ

Jesus is my divine Savior!
His bounty will supply me,
His omnipotence will deliver me,
His omnipresence will protect me,
His omniscience will guard me,
His love will animate me,
His mercy will heal me,
His grace will support me,
His compassion will comfort me,
His pity will relieve me,
His goodness will provide for me,
His tenderness will soothe me,
His kindness will encourage me,
His patience will bear with me,
His justice will avenge me,
His faithfulness will embolden me,
His holiness will beautify me,
His anger will awe me,
His life will quicken me,
His light will illumine me,
His Word will regulate me,
His joy will delight me,
His blessedness will elevate me,
His long-suffering will lead me to repentance,
His immutability will secure the fulfillment of all the promises to me,
His truth will be my shield and buckler,
His sovereignty will raise my admiration,
His condescension will inspire me with gratitude and love,
and His all-sufficiency will satisfy me both in time and eternity!

(James Smith, "The Person and Work of Christ" 1849)

Supermom VS. Abiding Mom

Are you striving to be a supermom or an abiding mom?

Click on to enlarge.

Her Character

I have been reading back through Martha Peace's book, Becoming a Titus 2 Woman...because I am always needing help and encouragement in this area.

Martha discusses what "Her Character" should be when an older woman begins to mentor a younger women.

When an older woman befriends a younger woman, she is likely to influence the younger women's thinking and actions. That can be good news or bad news. For example, it is bad news when the older woman leads the younger women into heresy. It is good news when the older woman is doctrinally sound. It is bad news when the older woman rebels against the authority of the elders in her church or her husband. It is good news when she is graciously under their authority. It is bad news when the older woman is a gossip. It is good news when she is like the "holy women of old". (1 peter 3:5)

Obviously, God does not want an older woman to be a bad influence on the younger women. Instead, he wants her to have godly character listed in Titus 2:3-5.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Regardless of our ages, we can all learn to be a Titus 2 woman..and we can eventually become an older woman who truly does "teach what is good" and "encourage younger women".