Post by Betty on Mar 9, 2005 5:56:38 GMT -5
Not Kicking His Dog Anymore
Let us continue to love one another, for love
comes from God (John 4:7, NLT).
Dear friends:
The night Leonard received Christ as his personal
Savior, his heart was filled with love, and a
great change came over him. Until then he had hated
everyone and everything.
When he came home drunk at night, he used to kick
his dog in the belly to get him off the porch,
scattering chairs and flower pots in all
directions. In the process, the dog would bark, growl and
try to bite him. Reeling and rocking under the
influence of alcohol, Leonard would chase the dog
around the table outside. Soon his wife would
get into the fray. They would cuss and fight.
"But the night I received Christ," he relates, "I
was so filled with love that even the dog sensed
I was different. He raised himself up off his
belly and crawled toward me, then lay down on the
same feet that had kicked him all the other
nights."
The greatest power that God can give us is His
supernatural, unconditional, everlasting and
unchangeable love. The purest and deepest kind of
love, it is expressed not through mere emotions, but
as an act of one's will.
The Bible says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8, NLT).
Whenever He is received and comes into one's
life, His love comes also because He is always
Himself. When we receive Him, we receive love. His
loves becomes a part of us as He takes up residence
in us.
Of course, we can suppress that love by not
allowing the Holy Spirit to fill and control us, and
we all have seen cases where that happens. But He
is always there to express His love through us if
we will but allow Him.
And we meet people who may be very difficult for
our natural selves to love, and we have to love
them "by faith." But that is also God, because
our natural selves would never love them. It is
supernatural, as by faith we allow God to love them
through us, as we yield to His Spirit.
Many such difficult people are hurting on the
inside, which God knows about, and He wants to use
us to touch their lives with His love.
"Let us continue to love one another, for love
comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. But anyone who does not love does not
know God -- for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8, NLT).
Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,
Bill Bright
Let us continue to love one another, for love
comes from God (John 4:7, NLT).
Dear friends:
The night Leonard received Christ as his personal
Savior, his heart was filled with love, and a
great change came over him. Until then he had hated
everyone and everything.
When he came home drunk at night, he used to kick
his dog in the belly to get him off the porch,
scattering chairs and flower pots in all
directions. In the process, the dog would bark, growl and
try to bite him. Reeling and rocking under the
influence of alcohol, Leonard would chase the dog
around the table outside. Soon his wife would
get into the fray. They would cuss and fight.
"But the night I received Christ," he relates, "I
was so filled with love that even the dog sensed
I was different. He raised himself up off his
belly and crawled toward me, then lay down on the
same feet that had kicked him all the other
nights."
The greatest power that God can give us is His
supernatural, unconditional, everlasting and
unchangeable love. The purest and deepest kind of
love, it is expressed not through mere emotions, but
as an act of one's will.
The Bible says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8, NLT).
Whenever He is received and comes into one's
life, His love comes also because He is always
Himself. When we receive Him, we receive love. His
loves becomes a part of us as He takes up residence
in us.
Of course, we can suppress that love by not
allowing the Holy Spirit to fill and control us, and
we all have seen cases where that happens. But He
is always there to express His love through us if
we will but allow Him.
And we meet people who may be very difficult for
our natural selves to love, and we have to love
them "by faith." But that is also God, because
our natural selves would never love them. It is
supernatural, as by faith we allow God to love them
through us, as we yield to His Spirit.
Many such difficult people are hurting on the
inside, which God knows about, and He wants to use
us to touch their lives with His love.
"Let us continue to love one another, for love
comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. But anyone who does not love does not
know God -- for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8, NLT).
Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,
Bill Bright
