LOVE"S WAYS, PT 3 of 5, No. 186

1 Thessalonians 4:9, “You yourselves are taught of God to love one another.”

We don’t learn to love on our own. It is God, the source of love, who teaches us. Let’s keep learning more…

Leaping Love

2 Corinthians 8:7 says, “Therefore, as ye abound in every thing… and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” I love the Way’s translation of this Scripture, “Full you are to overflowing… of the love that leaps from you hearts to mine…” What an exciting description of love. I think of a frog jumping from one rock to another. Can you get the picture of love leaping from one heart to another within your family? This is not stagnant love. Leaping love is vibrant, pulsating, overflowing.

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LOVE"S WAYS, PT 2 of 5, No. 185

2 Peter 1:7 “Add to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.”

Peter urges the saints to add agape love to their human affectionate love (philadelphia). This kind of love is precious, but if we are going to continue to grow in the Lord we must add agape love. We will walk in this love as we mature in Christ and allow Him more and more to live His life through us. There are other Scriptures that also urge us to move on from phileo to agape love...

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LOVE'S WAYS, PT 1 of 5, No.184

1 Timothy 1:14, “The love that is in Christ Jesus.”

It is easy to love when someone loves you, isn’t it? Reciprocal love is sweet and special. But how do you love when someone does not like you? How about when they throw abuse in your face? Hate you? Disrespect you? Misuse you? What do you do then? Maybe you can cope with it when it is someone outside the home. It is not so personal. But how do you cope when they are members of your own family? Help!

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A GARDEN HOME, No. 183

Jeremiah 29:5, “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.”

The first home was built by God. The predominant thing about this home is that it was a garden. It was called the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:7, 15) The word Eden means delight. The first home was a prototype of all homes to come. Consequently, God wants our homes today to also be places of delight. We should seek to make our homes lovely, whether small or big. Of course we know that there is more to a home than the beautiful architecture and the décor. A beautiful looking home can have a cold and hateful atmosphere. A little hut can be filled with the atmosphere of heaven.

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GET UP AGAIN, No. 182

Jeremiah 8:4, “Thus saith the Lord, Shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return?”

Have you failed recently? Or have you fallen into a hole right now? You feel stuck and don’t know how to get out. We have all been in this place. But I want to remind you that you don’t have to stay down, you don’t have to stay in your hole and you don’t have to continue feeling like a failure! God has promised that when you fall, you will rise again.

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TWO BLESSINGS FOR THE HOME, PT. 2, NO. 181

Jeremiah 6:16; “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls, But they said, we will not walk therein.”

The second thing God wants shepherdesses to provide for their little flock is to lead them into REST.

What about rest? Does this mean the children can loaf around and do what they like? No, this is not talking about laziness. It is a rest of peacefulness. It is rest from tension and strife. The shepherdess leads her family into a restful atmosphere. Ezekiel 34:14 Knox says, “I will lead them into fair pastures, the high mountains of Israel shall be their feeding ground, the mountains of Israel, with soft grass for them to rest on.”

It is delightful to lie down in soft grass, isn’t it? Who can lie down in prickly grass? No one. The shepherdess/mother seeks to eradicate all prickliness from the atmosphere of her home. She works as a peacemaker against all contention. She leads her family to soft grass. It’s beckoning. It’s comfortable.

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TWO BLESSINGS FOR THE HOME, PT 1

Ezekiel 34:15, “I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. “

God is the true Shepherd of his flock. As we parent in His likeness, He shows us how to shepherd the little flock that He has graciously given to us. When Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to restore and build the gates of Jerusalem he started with the Shepherds’ Gate and ended with the Shepherds’ Gate. There are many things we do as a shepherdess in watching over our flock, but there are two main things.

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