love

Reading the Old Testament

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I have been thinking about the Bible and before you say well of course you have Mike let me clarify. I have been thinking about the Old Testament and what is included. You see the OT is the historical narrative of Israel from the calling and covenant made with Abraham to the end of the exile. That is somewhere around 2000-2500 years of history give or take but the exact time is not really all that important to this discussion. The focus is that we are talking about a long time with a relatively short record. The thing I find fascinating is that in the record (the Bible) there is not as much detail as you would expect to find but that is by design. History was not recorded for the same reasons we record history. Stories were excluded or included all for a single purpose. That purpose is to reveal God.

The stories of David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Sampson, Haggar, and even Creation are not there to teach you about these people with their strengths/failures or event details although they can. No instead their purpose of being placed in Scripture is to teach us about God. The Bible is the story of God telling us something of Himself. 1 John 4:19 says we love because He first loved us and that is the point. We know something about God because He revealed it to us because if God does not teach us about Himself we get false ideas about who He is and what He wants (see the tower of Babel) and if we have a false view of God we serve a false god. Seeing as God Himself commands us not to serve false gods He has to take the initiative and teach us about Himself.

So we should look at the OT and see what is God trying to teach us about Himself and not what did David do. Yes we can and should learn things from David but David is not the main character. When he dies the story goes on because the main character is God with David playing a supporting role. This applies to everything in the OT including the Law. When God gives the Law He is trying to communicate something of Himself so instead of reading it and saying “I am glad I am under grace and not Law” we should read it and say “God what are you saying about yourself in this?” This does two things that are very important.

First is puts the focus back on God. It says God you are the main character not me. Not my place my position or my desires. What are you saying about you (yes in light of Christ coming)? I am not suggesting we read it in a vacuum but He was saying something about Himself and He says he does not change. So if God was something then He is still that thing remember He exists outside space and time after all the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. So what was meant for learning is still good for learning. 2+2 = 4 that does not change when you learn that √(4)=2 you just have more information now. We have this idea that we are the center of the universe and I regret to inform you that you are not the center of the universe. You are of great importance to God shown in the fact that Jesus died on a cross for you but the story will continue when you die and there is a good chance that if we are all still here (people that is) no one will remember your name. So lets focus on what will remain and that is God and His Word.

The second thing it does is it starts to teach you. You might just be surprised what you find when you read with the expectation of learning something about God and doing things God’s way. I am constantly amazed what I find when I read with the desire to see Him. I go from one understanding to another one because the veil is removed and I can see things in a whole new light. I start to see certain things that I was sure meant one thing take on a whole new meaning because I understand God is trying to teach me something about Him.

I’ll end with this. God loves you. He loves you so much He gave everything to be with you. He is a caring, devoted, and compassionate Father. That has always been true and I enjoy reading things about my Dad before I knew Him.

Just a thought,

Mike

The attitude of Christ.

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I was thinking about the attitude of Christ in John 8:11. Specifically I was thinking about how He loved the woman caught in the act of adultery and how He loved those about to stone her. Because I believe He was showing love to both the woman and the group wanting to take her life. So lets start with the group about to stone her.

They (the Scribes and Pharisees) brought the woman to Jesus as He was teaching and said “This woman was caught in the act of adultery and the Law of Moses says we kill her.” What Jesus did not do was argue, point out that they forgot to bring the man as well, tell them their right or anything else. Instead He wrote on the ground. Now what did He write? I honestly have no idea but I like to think He was writing down the sins of those around Him. Not with names just sins and those around Him knew which ones were theirs but that is just a thought. Then He told them to cast the stones, but the first person without sin should throw the first one. Then He went back to writing in the sand. They dropped their stones and left.

So how is this Jesus showing love? Because it made them realize their own sin. It makes sense the oldest dropped their stones first because age brings wisdom and you are aware of your own sinfulness. You know your shortcomings all too well. By not condemning them of their sins He shows mercy which is love.

Now the woman. It is easy to see how Jesus showed the woman love because the Law did say to stone her. She was guilty of adultery and adultery was punishable by death. So Jesus showed her love by stopping the crowd from killing her. That is pretty loving if you ask me. But the fact that He says “I do not condemn you either” is major and has some major theological implications but let’s not get sidetracked. Jesus showed love to both her and the crowd in the same way He could have condemned them both. The woman for her adultery and the crowd for their various sins.

Jesus shows love that is clear in the Bible. Jesus says “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” – John 3:17. Jesus was not looking to condemn anyone Jesus was looking to love people and set them free. He goes on to say that in 8:32 “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free (hence the website and tattoo). So again to be clear Jesus loved people right where they were at no strings attached. Just pure love.

Now some people want me to stop right there. Jesus loved and did not condemn stop now before you offend someone. But I cannot stop there because the story does not stop there. Jesus goes on to tell the woman “go and sin no more.” Well if Jesus was loving her He still is. Jesus loved her enough to save her life and then tell her to stop sinning. It is not good for you or your relationship with Him. Jesus loves you enough to want you to not sin. That is love.

So where are you at today? Maybe you are the woman maybe you are the crowd. I don’t know but I do know Jesus loves you. I live my whole life from that basic idea. It is not a bumper sticker or phrase for me but it is everything. I live my life as someone who has committed sins that would make your head spin but Jesus still loved me. He loved me enough to spare my life and to tell me to go and sin no more.

Just a thought,

Mike

Karma & Grace

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I was thinking about karma and grace this morning. With karma you will always get back what you gave. If you do good you will get good if you do bad you will get bad, it is a cycle that cannot be broken. Everything is cumulative and it can take thousands of years to work off just some of your bad karma. It is perhaps the most works based system possible and offers no help for the root cause of your failures in the first place namely a sinful nature. Grace stands in stark contrast to karma. Where karama says you must work towards moksha, God’s grace says I will give you freedom, liberty, and eternal life because you can never be good enough. Grace is not just a “do over” but an all covering and immeasurable gift from the Creator Himself to mankind. Simply put karma is you doing your best it is you working towards being liberated from a life of pain while God’s grace says it is true you can never do enough to earn life with me but I will give it to you because I am good.

Powerful Little Conjunction

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

the-ampersand-hotel-london_monogram

I am reading through the Pentateuch or Torah or Books of Moses whichever you like for class, and I keep noticing this little word “and.” Specifically I am seeing it at the beginning of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It occurs to me that this powerful little conjunction does more than just connects to words, phrases, or clauses but it connects pictures and ideas as well.

It connects the picture and idea that is being made in Genesis with the picture/idea in Exodus with the picture/idea in Leviticus and so on.

Have you ever watched a TV show that was very well put together? One where the writers decide at the onset what is going to happen and then everything works towards that goal. Every plot twist, cliffhanger, and surprise is designed to bring you to the finale so when you see that one you get a big picture. Each episode on it’s own was great but the whole story is amazing. That is the Pentateuch. So I asked myself if “and” connects these picture/ideas then what is the bigger picture/idea that is being created?

It’s probably better to give you the story of each one first. That way when we see the big picture we can appreciate it a little more.

Genesis – God creates/recreates (Creation, Noah, Babel, Patriarchs), and gives direction and promises.

Exodus – God delivers, makes promises, forgives, God delivers, makes promises, forgives.

Leviticus – God is holy, and He explains and prepares us now for future promise receiving.

Numbers – God is faithful and good even when we are not.

Deuteronomy – Pay attention to what God has done.

So what is the big picture that is being created in the story as a whole? God has created you and is calling you, He has direction and a place for you. He delivers you out of your trials and gives you insight as to what He wants for you. He is holy and mighty, and will prepare you ahead of time for what you will walk into, and even when you are weak He is strong. We need to pay attention to what He has done and what He is doing.

That is the gist of it. Sure there is more but if you want the overall picture that is pretty much it. I really don’t have more to say than that.

Just a thought,

Mike

Perception Determines Reality

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

In just reading the title you might gasp and think that I have turned into a Relativist. Fear not though as I remain an Absolutist. That does not mean I suggest that all things be weighed the same but more on that some other time. Right now I want to talk about to some extent perception determines reality at least how this impacts the church as a whole.

People more than ever seem to be concerned (at least marginally) with social justice and social issues. Bare minimum they at least want to give it lip service because it deserves to at least be spoken of. The plight of this group, or that group. This place or that place. This situation or that situation. I for one think this is great because there are a lot of issues we can and should get behind. The problem with all of this is that Christians (again as a whole) have been perceived as only caring about two issues namely homosexuality and abortion. While we do talk about these things they are far from the only things we discuss but that does not matter because we are perceived as only talking about these issues. Now it is a cheap and lazy attack but effective nevertheless. It is an attack on the church that is proving to be very detrimental to our cause.

Here is what I am talking about; if you feel slighted by someone then whether or not they have actually slighted you is somewhat irrelevant. Now, of course, this is an overgeneralization and does not apply to this audience but for a lot of people, this is true. The facts do not matter nearly as much as the way it is perceived. Now again whether that is right or wrong really does not matter right now. If we look around we see this playing out all the time, and sad to say this is what has happened to the church as a whole. We have been perceived as only caring about two issues and nothing else. To such an extent that we have actually had to take the defense and stand to battle against these two issues as if they were the only ones.

Now as a Christian I know this is not true. I know we as a whole are involved in feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, stopping sex trafficking, and so on. So how do we go about changing the perception? More importantly, do we need to change it? I think the answer to that question is a resounding YES! We not only should but we must change it because the very people who have this perception are the ones we are meant to reach with the love of Christ. I think we should make changing the perception a top priority. We are supposed to be known for our love, sharing, and compassion. So if the perception is we are only against homosexuals (which is wrong) or that we want to control women’s bodies (again wrong) then we need to change that perception. So how do we do that?

I think it is a two-fold approach. First is active shenanigan and hogwash calling. When people say “oh Christians hate gay people” or, “Christians think they can tell a woman what to do with their body, woman hating,” I say we call shenanigans! Be decent about it but ask them why they believe that or where they got that from. I give you permission that it is OK to do. Most people have no idea why they say half the things they say (Christians and non-Christians alike) they just say what they have heard and been told to say so just call them out and ask why. Correct the perception.

If someone said Bob (let’s pretend you are Bob) is a woman-hating jerk, I am pretty sure you would not lay down and just take it. After all they are insulting your name. They are insulting you. Well when people say Christians are homophobic woman hating jerks they are calling you that if you are a Christian so stand up for yourself. We have this idea that being meek and humble means we have to be beat up and not stand for truth, but take another look in the Scriptures and see how Jesus, Peter, and Paul responded when people tried to defame the truth. Yes there are times to take it on the chin but there are also times to stand up. Don’t get into a fight just to fight but don’t just dragged through the mud and think it makes you holy. It is a really hard line and requires a lot of prayer and meditation on the Word.

The second way is to keep doing good. Galatians 6:9 says:

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Just keep at it. Use it as fuel to push through. Someone says Christians only care about X go and do Y. Keep at it and keep moving forward in love.

We have a great cause we are fighting for and it is bigger than any popular issue going through social media today. If they want to accuse us of something it should be that Christians are always loving me and trying to help me. We are in a war for people’s souls so let’s start fighting.

Just a thought,

Mike

Compounding Interest and Faith

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

On one hand, I know it might sound silly and to those who think it does you can just ignore this post and move on to something in the Archives, but I want to be a better Christian. I want to know more and do more for God. Not because I am trying to earn favor or get something from Him but because I love Him and want more of Him. I guess I just want to add to my faith. The question is can I and should I? Should this even be a desire to have?

2 Peter 1:5-7 says it is possible and more so that I should give all diligence to this very task of adding to my faith. That I should actually not just want this but do it. There is a lot in these three verses, and it might just spill into two posts so bear with me because as my daughter used to sing “we’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship…”

There are seven things we are told to add to our faith in these three verses. Seven things that are supposed to be compounded upon each other. It is like compounding interest which is awesome when investing and horrid when paying. Compound interest works like this; You put money in and then interest is added to that, but that interest money that is given is now added to the total and you get interest on the whole amount. So for example, you put in $100 with 25% interest (unheard of I know) for four years, you would have somewhere around $244 at the end. Whereas if the interest did not compound you would only have $200 at the end of the year. It is like the whole doubling a penny a day trick where you end up a few million in a month or something like that. Peter is talking about the same thing. Start with your faith and then compound it.

2 Peter 1:5-7 But also for this very reason (see verse 4) giving all diligence add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

These are the things that are supposed to be compounded on each other. It is not faith, then virtue, then knowledge and so on setting them aside after each use. But they are supposed to go one on top of the other so that as you compound them so we will have knowledge of Jesus and not be shortsighted or unfruitful. So let’s look at the list:

Virtue

Knowledge

Self-Control

Perseverance

Godliness

Brotherly Kindness

Love

I also think it important to mention that this is not a 1-7 list. It is not first Virtue then Knowledge as if when you do one you are done with it. No this is a continual list as in keep adding to these things. Sometimes you are working a little more on Self-Control then Brotherly Kindness. The order is not nearly as important as the act of the adding. So onto to Greek….

Virtue – aretē

Moral excellence as modesty or purity. Think of Virtue as being ethical. If it is right then do that. Regardless of ease do the right thing and take the right path. Virtue is added by doing.

Knowledge – gnōsis

Knowledge here is actually specific to the things of the faith. It is not just any old knowledge. It is not learning more about Starfish (which are pretty cool), but the things the Bible says. This is done by reading and meditating on the Word of God.

Self-Control – egkrateia

Self-Control is funny to define because it is like defining the word “is.” But I shall try. Self-Control is not giving in to your desires. It is realizing that you can say no to the TV, girl/guy, yes to quiet time, and so on. Self-Control is only done when tempted to not have it. You can only have it when you need it.

Perseverance – hypomonē

Perseverance in the Christian faith is a whole lot like exercising. It is that dig deep moment. It is the my legs are shaking but I am going to keep going moment, the I want to quit or let this discouragement in moment but I am going to keep at it. I am going to push forward. If courage is doing it regardless of fear than discouragement is giving into the fear. Perseverance is not giving into the hardship but pushing on towards the goal.

Godliness – eusebeia

Godliness is reverence and respect for God. It is just the realization that you are not God. It is understanding that your ways are not His ways and that He can do as He pleases and that His purposes are good.

Brotherly Kindness – philadelphia

Not this city or movie. This means love. Not agape love because that is slightly different but this is love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. When you see others being persecuted or hurting or needing help it is doing what is needed. It is taking time to serve and love the body.

Love – agapē

Now, this is real God like love. This is 1 Corinthians 13 love. I won’t say too much because a lot has been said, but suffice to say it is giving of yourself.

So there we have it. There are seven things and all of them hard. All require something of us, but all give us something better than what we can be without them. When applied and compounded we get a faith that is strong and we will have fruit.

We managed to get it all in one post. It’s a long post but oh well.

Just a thought,

Mike

Itchy Legs & Dead Caterpillars

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Image-1 (1)

Everyone loves the story of the caterpillar. The little thing makes itself a cocoon and then poof it is a beautiful butterfly. You too little boys and girls can turn into what God wants you to be. It is just so lovely.

Of course just like most things that is only the part we see. The other part the part we do not see is the process. The process to go from caterpillar to butterfly is messy and destructive. The caterpillar basically dies. It releases enzymes that completely digest itself. Then it is reborn into a butterfly. For a time in that cocoon there is just butterfly goo. Just ooey gooey ukyness…

In Genesis 17:5 God gives Abram a new name, and while here is a lot that can be said about that. I only want to talk about the process from 12-17.

There are 13 years between Genesis 12 and Genesis 17. In between is the it’s my sister Egypt issue, Lot being captured, Melchizedek, Ishmael, and a host of other trials victories, learning and failings. 13 years between God calling Abram and turning him into Abraham. It took 13 years of ooey gooey ukyness to make an Abraham, and the process was by no means complete.

The New Testament is full of verses talking about dieing to yourself. Two of my favorites are Romans 6:4 and Galatians 2:20 (I even know a song for this one). Even more famous is Jesus teaching that you must pick up and carry your cross daily. The process to become what God wants you to be, to be what He has made you to be is hard, and it is painful.

I remember going through the “process” of going from being a boy to being a young man. There were hormones raging, legs that itched so bad, growing pains, and so on. It was horrible. I could not think straight, could not understand why I kept crying all the time, I could not even as some say. It was horrible but it was something I had to go through in order to become a man.

A walk with God is no different. We have to go through some growing, some changing, some itchy legs. It is a process and it is not an overnight one. It is not something that just happens. Some call it progressive sanctification, some call that heresy, but still say we grow and change. Either way I think we can all agree that you are not who you were before you gave your life over to Jesus. I would assume (and I know that is dangerous) that you have matured. That as Paul says you no longer think as a child. That you have moved on from mothers milk and eat solid food. At least I would hope you do.

Like Abraham you will still make mistakes and that is OK. God knows you are going to fail, He expects it, He sees it. That is a non issue. Failing is part of the process, but so is getting up. Abraham did not have 13 years of successes because there were some heavy failures in there. No he did not have 13 years of success, but what he did have was 13 years of growing. 13 years of maturing. 13 years of itchy legs, crying spells, caterpillar goo, and 13 years of growth.

Today we should stand up and realize that yesterday’s failures and successes have brought you to today. Shake off the dust and keep growing.

Just a thought,

Mike

My daughter is a mission field

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I just finished reading Mark Oestreicher’s book Youth Ministry 3.0, and yes I know it is old news but guess what I don’t care. I buy my books from the used book store and I figure if the information is any good it should still be relevant. Everyone is always like “hey did you read that new book by blah blah” and I’m all like “hey have you heard of this guy Watchman Nee? I’d like him to sign my book.”

Anyway that has nothing to do with anything. I just want to take a minute of your time and tell you why you should read or not read this book (Youth Ministry 3.0). I think the information is good, I think the messages on the sides of the pages are helpful, and I think that by and large you can put into practice a lot of the things in the book even if you are not in youth ministry.

Read If:

You are willing to change

You are willing to grow

You desire to see maturity in your life and the life of your students

You are somewhat tired of coming up with a new and exciting game for youth every week

 

Don’t Read If:

You love being the Messiah

You really enjoy being the Rock Star of the church

You think that numbers equal fruit

You are dyslexic

Everyone has a different major take away from reading a book and my major number one takeaway from reading this book was missions. If a kid is allowing you in their life then understand you are a visitor not a resident. Think back to your own childhood / adolescence. You might have let some adults in but not all the way in. If they got too close you changed the rules so they could not longer be close. It is the same nowadays only worse (I think). So if we are going to minister to youth we need to understand we do not have all the info most of the time. Most of the time they only give us what they want us to have and if we take to much they lose interest.

Music is a great example because it is always changing. My daughter was really into Adele for a while. She would sing it in the shower and on her karaoke machine. She would ask me to play it while we drove somewhere it was all she listened to. However once I started to listening to it on my own she no longer had interest. I had taken something she liked and made it my own so she could no longer have it. I had accidentally stolen part of her identity. It was an honest mistake but a mistake nonetheless. Now she has moved on and is trying to find something new but won’t let me know what it is. Now of course I do know because she does not use headphones so I hear almost everything. But she is guarding that part of herself.

What I learned (or was reminded of) is even though she is my daughter she is a mission field to me and if she lets me in on something I need to be careful not to take her things on as my own. I think to some extend and this is just a hunch that some of the problems we see youth facing today are in a way our fault as leaders for taking what they like as our own. They are into this so we put it in church, or watch it, or pin it, or post it, or whatever. So the only response they have is to go somewhere we are not willing to go. This way they have their own person-ness (just made that word up).

I am in no way suggesting we should not know what they are into, but we do not necessarily have to embrace everything they like after all we are the adults maybe we should learn what we like by now. Maybe instead of conforming to their culture we just need to know about so we can lead them out of the dangerous stuff.

I know the videos she watches because I go through her devices. I have learned what / who Miranda Sings is and we have spoken about some of her videos. We know what she listens to and my wife has spoken with her about some song choices. But I have also decided that I need to let her have some things so that she will not try and go to an extreme just to be unique.

My daughter is a mission field, and if I am to help her grow and learn what it is to follow Christ then I need to learn about her, study her, and find out what makes her tick. But like being a missionary that does not mean I become a native but instead I choose to be an ambassador to her. Are the other youths I lead any different?

Just a thought,

Mike

Small sentence big implication!

/ Mike Farley / 2 Comments

There are a few verses in the Bible that stand out. Not that other verses are not important but some change the way you view everything.

Luke 10:27 “You shall love the LORD your God with all: your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

This is a simple statement however the implications are huge and require some explaining and examples.

Love God:

Before we can even begin to look at the ways we are to love God we have to understand that we cannot on our own accord love Him. Our attempts at loving God fall short and our attempts at living a righteous life are but filthy rags. We can only love God because He first loved us. God is good and in His goodness He saved us from our sins by sending His only son to save us. It is by placing our trust in the finished work of the Cross that we can then love God. The twist to the story however is that now we can love God but require His love in us to then love Him properly. We must constantly receive from Him to give our love to Him. I believe that Colossians 3:3 shows this well that we cannot think of our love to God as separate from our being in Him. We love Him because we are in Christ who is in the Father. The implications of this are of course that the love we give to God is really His own love back to Him. Desiring to always be in Him.

With all your heart:

The word for heart that is used is more than emotion and feelings. It does encompass this but it is for your mental, moral i.e rational and emotional. We are called to love God with our thoughts, and to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We are to think about the LORD, and to be engaged with His heart. We are to seek His heart and then put ours in alignment with His. We are to not let our feelings and emotions control us. This is done through Prayer.

With all your soul:

Loving God with all your soul is to give Him your whole inner being. A dog can love it’s master, it can come when it is called, it can respect that you feed it, but it has no soul so it cannot love fully. God does not desire that we come when called. God desires that we desire Him. We are to long for Him like a deer pants for water my soul pants for God, we are to thirst for Him. This is done through Worship.

With all your strength:

The love we give to God from our strength is by loving with all the ability we have to love with. We are to love God by doing what we are able to do. This is not done to gain merit or earn salvation but instead we do works because we are saved by Grace. Our love for God is shown in what we do, not done to be loved. Loving God with our strength is to love Him through Service.

With all your mind:

To love God with your mind is to love Him with all your understanding. I love God more now than I did when I first gave my life to Him, but my love for Him was no less real than it is now. Now I simply understand more so I can love Him more. The more I learn of Him and the more I seek Him the more I love Him. The more I transform my mind by His word and see what He has done the more I am able to love Him. My daughter loves me more today than she did 5 years ago only because she understands me more now. The more we study the more we have ability to love Him. This is done through Reading the Bible.

Love your neighbour as yourself:

This is done by living in Grace and Truth. Jesus came full of Grace and Truth and we should live the same way. Some churches are big on Truth and some are big on Grace but what would happen if we were big on Grace and Truth. What if we looked to Jesus as our example and said go and sin no more. What if we offered to others the same grace we need. What would happen if we told the truth we desire to hear.

The local church is to be an extension of Jesus. We are to be His hands and feet. We are to love the unloved, to care for widows and orphans, to offer mercy to those who need it. There is a time for discipline and we must use it when needed but we must not be to quick to reach for it. We must be ministers of reconciliation.

As a church we need to have opportunities for people to serve. We need to have opportunities for people to come to Jesus. We should also be active in the community. We cannot expect to have people come to us unless we have first demonstrated that we will go to them. Jesus spent His time going to the people who needed to hear and receive the Word. We should be a force in the communities we are placed in.

We should also be looking to train up the next generation for service. We should be actively looking for those who have a call on their life and equipping them for service. If someone wants to be a pastor or missionary or doctor or lawyer or nurse or mechanic we should be showing them that they can be whatever they are called to be for Christ. Ministry happens everyday in a variety of ways and we should be showing that to the next generation so they can be a force for Jesus as well.

Just a thought,

Mike

What is love?

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

I think it is safe to say that we as a culture are obsessed with love or at least the idea of love. We listen to songs about it, watch movies about it, read books about it. We think about how we can better love ourselves, love our spouses, love our children, and love others. Selling love has become a multi-billion industry in it’s multiple forms. Those who don’t have it long for it, and those who have it try to figure out how to hold on to it or find it in new ways.

Often times when we lose the feeling of love we turn to new things in an attempt to get that feeling back often times with failure and sin as a result. There are those who have mastered the craft of the illusion of love. People who have studied the feeling of love and like a painter are able to create it. But like a painting it is only a two dimensional and lacks depth. We have taken a great and wonderful thing and made it trivial and cheap. We treat love like a drug and or a solve it all. All the while we tend to only seek love for our benefit.

The story in Hosea is a beautiful love story filled with tragedy and joy, tears, and rejoicing. Hosea is a story of a man who deeply loves his unfaithful wife, and it is also the story of how the children of Israel have left their first love. But it is also a story of you and I.  A story written some almost three thousand years ago that today still speaks true. It is all a story that today is an all too common scenario. A story that at the time it was written was scandalous, but today makes the for good television. It is story of a fall from grace and an undeserving return to glory.

I think the thing that makes the story of Hosea, and Gomer so great is that Gomer thought she knew what love was. She thought she had an understanding of what love was, and sadly it is the same misunderstanding that many of us have. But she learned what love truly was and is not because of her seeking but because of her husbands seeking of her.

Hosea 2:5 says “For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully for she said I will go after my lovers, who gave me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.”

Gomer the wife of Hosea decided that her husband was not enough for her, more to the point she decided he was not the provider she needed. She had desires for more that he did not provide. She wanted things more than she wanted her husband and family. She loved other things more. Notice she refers to the providers of these things as her lovers who gave me.. It was the things she wanted more than her husband. She desired these things and these many men more than Hosea. This was not a marriage on the rocks. Not a marriage where her husband did not love her. It is very clear from the text that Hosea loved his wife dearly. She and she alone was the one with issue.

In the same way we too leave God for other lovers. Maybe it is not full leaving maybe it is just a little something on the side. You hold a little back from offering so you can get that shirt, or watch, or rims. You skip fellowship so you can have a little more time to play that game, or get caught up on work, or finally spend some quality time with NetFlix. It is not leaving just a little flirting. You have not cheated on your girl it’s just a work wife because it’s fun. It is just a little harmless fun.

But a little this and a little that make a lot of something.

We look for things that will give us the thing we want; the feeling of love. When we see something that might be it or even lead to it we follow it. We chase love and the idea of love relentlessly all the while not realizing that a relentless love is chasing us.

Don’t get me wrong love is not a bad thing I love love. The problem is our understanding of love. The problem is that we sometimes love the wrong things and don’t understand what love is. We love tacos, cookies, and Jesus. As if these three things are the same.

We chase things that are not love as if they were. We long for what we do not have all the while completely missing the thing in front of us. A big part of the problem if not the whole problem is we do not understand what love is.

Here is three examples of misunderstanding what love is.

So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames, you can tell me when it’s over if the high was worth the pain, Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane, cause you know I love the players and you love the game. – Taylor Swift.

Oh won’t you stay with me, cause you’re all I need. This ain’t love it’s clear to see but darling stay with me. – Sam Smith

Well you only need the light when it’s burning low, Only miss the sun when it starts to snow, Only know you love her when you let her go. – Passenger

You have a song about talking about love as a temporary passion, one that wants love knowing it does not have it, and one that says you only know you have love when it is gone.

Love as defined by Webster’s dictionary is a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person and the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship. This is nice but easy to fall in and out of. This is just an affection it is no more than a stong like, and I can stop liking something or someone pretty quick. We have turned love into a feeling. A strong feeling but a feeling nonetheless. We love out of our desire, needs, and wants. We love when there is something in it for us.

God does not command that we really like our neighbor. Jesus does not say in Luke 10:27 you should really like the LORD your God. No it says you should LOVE the LORD your God.  The love being used here in the Greek means to wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. It is so much more than like or strong like. Biblical love is crazy dedication.

So how does the Bible define love. After all if we are going to talk about Biblical love we should define it.

1 Corinthians 13:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

If I had to sum it up I would say the Bible define love as a selfless devotion to others that is ready and willing to go the distance.

There was a man a few years back named Kamal Saleem who was a part of something called Culture Jihad. It is a branch of jihad that instead of guns and swords to attack the flesh they instead choose to attack the mind. He moved himself to America to begin to reshape America for Islam. Long story short he was in a horrible accident one day on his way to recruit some young men. He was thrown from his car and broke his neck in two places. He was found by some christians who called 911. He was brought to a christian hospital where all of his bills where paid and treatment was set up for him. He knew they were all the same people he wanted to destroy (christians). They put him in an apartment after he was released from the hospital, and even bought him a car. One day he realized that these same people he wanted to destroy loved him without condition and he decided to take his life because of his confusion but he heard a voice call him by name and tell him to cry out to God. He did and God answered. This man now has a large ministry dedicated to seeing people find freedom in Christ.

Back to Luke 10 Jesus then goes on to talk about loving your neighbor as yourself and tells the story of the good Samaritan. A man who had no reason whatsoever to love the beaten and battered Jew. Let me ask you this and I understand that no one wants to hear this and I do not want to say it. If a member of rival sports team was beaten and battered would you help? If it was the one who your spouse cheated on you with would you still be willing to help? What if it was the person who got you wrongly fired? What if it was a member of ISIS or Al Quada? If you are walking down Main St and someone was bruised bloody and dying would it matter who they are before you help them?

We have to love, we have to choose love. We have Jesus as our example of what love does. We look to Him and see how love responds. Not living out of feelings no matter how strong.

We go back to our love story in Hosea 2:14-16 “Therefore behold, I will allure her, will bring her back into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there as in the days of her youth. As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that day, says the LORD that you will call me My Husband (Ishi – husband, mighty man, him that is, great) and no longer call me My master (Baali – My master, captain, chief man, have to do.)”

That parallel between two words is like an obligation and a choice. It is like the difference between the old ball and chain, and my wife.

We look and see that even before we get cleaned up God is calling us to Him. We did not get to get right before we could get right with God. It says in Romans that while we still sinners Christ died for us. He did it out of love. God is love and whoever lives in love, lives in God (1 John 4:16).

The whole point of what I am saying is this. God loves you and loved you before you were worth loving and He says we are to love as well. We are to love God and love our neighbor. We are to live in love. We are to love the brethren and being willing to lay ourselves down for them. We are to love others and show them a more excellent way. We are to be known for our love. I say it again we are to be about the business of love.

We are to love our children when they don’t ask for it. We are to  love our spouses when they are being difficult. We love our parents when they are being crazy. We are to love our pastors when they seem to require much from us. Love is not a feeling but an action. We must be about the business of love, because it is the business God is in.

In looking at Hosea and Gomer again. Love is worth it. Love wins. Hosea buys back his wife at a great price. A price higher than any of her false lovers would be willing to pay. A price that was above and beyond what any slave was worth. Hosea paid this price because she was no slave but his bride.

We need to first understand that God is love. We can hear that and not understand it. Read 1 Cor 13:4-8a again but this time replace Love with God. God suffers long and is kind; God does not envy; God does not parade Himself, He is not puffed up; He does not behave rudely; He does not seek His own, He thinks no evil. he does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth.

Jesus went to and died on a cross for a Bride. He purchased you back with His own blood He bought back as His bride. He paid a price that no one else was willing to pay. No false lover came to your rescue, no tempter ever thought to secure you. Jesus laid down His life to redeem you. Hosea purchased his wife with things that perish because his love while great had an end. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says:

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Jesus purchased His bride with things that do not perish because His love does not end. That starts to build a pretty good picture.

Later read it again but put yourself in there you will quickly see where you need to work on things. You will have a hard time saying certain things. Your voice might even crack a little when you read words you know are not true about yourself. Read them anyway. Then ask God to help you become those things.

Just a thought,

Mike