Redeemer Podcast
Love Never Fails ~ Danny Bryant (click on this link to listen)
We went to hear Danny preach yesterday and the passage his message focused on was
1 Corinthians 13 (love).
I have been reading "Same Kind of Different As Me
" - which has turned out to be a story of the perfect love described in Matthew 5:46-48.
This morning my daily devotional scripture was Matthew 5:46-48.
There have been so many times in my life when I knew God was focusing my attention on a certain theme because it was coming at me through many different sources. I love it when that happens.
Matthew 5:48 was always quoted to me (in the past) to "prove" that we had to reach literal perfection in the flesh to have eternal life. I cannot begin to count how many times I heard people ask how any Christian could explain away that commandment. And whenever I would read it, I would have to contend with the baggage of a false gospel. But because of the book I've been reading, when I read that scripture this morning, the understanding of the verse was crystal clear. If you read the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" you will see the most beautiful example of that perfect love displayed in Deborah Hall as she reached out to and truly loved the homeless. That directive was not about salvation or meriting eternal life. That chapter describes the kind of love we should have for our fellow man if we are in Christ. It is the way we are to love. Not simply loving those who love us. It has nothing to do with the rules we keep or the number of hours we spend sitting in a church service. It's all about love that is outside ourselves in focus.
I will never struggle with the meaning of Matthew 5:48 again.
In Danny's sermon, the scripture was from another location in the Bible, but it was the same message:
Love that is outside of ourselves in its focus.
We went to hear Danny preach yesterday and the passage his message focused on was
1 Corinthians 13 (love).
I have been reading "Same Kind of Different As Me
" - which has turned out to be a story of the perfect love described in Matthew 5:46-48.This morning my daily devotional scripture was Matthew 5:46-48.
There have been so many times in my life when I knew God was focusing my attention on a certain theme because it was coming at me through many different sources. I love it when that happens.
Matthew 5:48 was always quoted to me (in the past) to "prove" that we had to reach literal perfection in the flesh to have eternal life. I cannot begin to count how many times I heard people ask how any Christian could explain away that commandment. And whenever I would read it, I would have to contend with the baggage of a false gospel. But because of the book I've been reading, when I read that scripture this morning, the understanding of the verse was crystal clear. If you read the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" you will see the most beautiful example of that perfect love displayed in Deborah Hall as she reached out to and truly loved the homeless. That directive was not about salvation or meriting eternal life. That chapter describes the kind of love we should have for our fellow man if we are in Christ. It is the way we are to love. Not simply loving those who love us. It has nothing to do with the rules we keep or the number of hours we spend sitting in a church service. It's all about love that is outside ourselves in focus.
I will never struggle with the meaning of Matthew 5:48 again.
In Danny's sermon, the scripture was from another location in the Bible, but it was the same message:
Love that is outside of ourselves in its focus.
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