Seeing the Value
Greetings to our obedient sister saints!
All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Titus 3:15
I find that interesting that it says 'Greet them that love us in the faith'. Praise God we know saints all over the world that love the brethren. Love is not just a surface love of lip service, it's action. Many don't see the value of Godly love and to their demise as it says that if you don't love your brother you don't have God. There will be a lot of shocked people before God who said many things but they mean nothing without the fruit of it.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
It would be good for us sisters to ponder that all and see the value of the closeness of the brethren. It suffers long, not running off when there's a bit of trouble. There's no envy and not puffed up thinking one is more important than the other. It doesn't behave unseemly and doesn't seek it's own. Hmmm, how many people live their own lives because they don't want to be accountable to others, therefore seeking their own? Not easily provoked which would mean patient and long suffering with the brethren. It thinks no evil....like thinking someone is prideful and arrogant without trying to correct them. Rejoices in truth, amen, and that would be unity in that truth. Bears, believes, hopes and endures through all things; meaning that the unity of the brethren for the glory of God is more important than fleshliness and separation. There's much value in all that, meaning we care more about others than ourselves. That's rare...
Brother James and I took some time today to split and stock up on our wood piles. We absolutely love doing such chores and are so thankful for all the blessings that God provides. We were talking about the value of a piece of wood 🪵🪓 and the subject came up about how valuable not only wood is but everything. Brother James said I should do a post with some ideas in which to see a deeper value of things than just the surface level.
For instance: in order to get that piece of wood we have to go outside in God's awesome creation in which we can give Him glory. We get exercise while we are doing it and it creates much thankfulness before we even use that piece of wood for its intended purpose. That piece of wood provides the heat for our house as well as cooking food. The splinters from being split can be used to start fires. That piece of wood could also be valuable as a gift to someone to heat their own homes.
Let's look at a sunset.
The sunset is evidence of the light that shined throughout the day. It also gave us heat to grow food or to warm us up in the cold. We give God glory for the marvelous creation He made, thankful to be a partaker of it's beauty.
How about a skirt?
It represents more than just a piece of cloth to cover our body. It represents that of a godly woman who has shed her pride and vanity. It shows shamefacedness and obedience in the godly woman wearing it. In this instance it came from a godly women who sewed it in love. All is an honor and glory to God with thanksgiving.
A bowl of soup?
It starts with the plants that God grew on His earth with the rain and sun. There's much thankfulness in the godly woman, for provisions by which to feed herself and / or family. There's love and hospitality shown by the godly woman who cooked it, in her obedience to Titus 2 duties. It feeds a hungry person so they can continue to live. Thanks is giving unto the Lord for it.
And water.
Water, what a precious gift from God! It is not only something we need for our body to survive, it waters trees to provide shade and wood, it helps our plants grow to provide food, it allows us to wash our body, clothes, dishes and clean things. Cold water is refreshing in the summer and hot is comforting in the cold. It can be used for energy and transportation.
Messages (or texts or emails or phone calls) from a sister.
Not only is it the messages but it offers encouragement, edification, lifted spirits, comfort etc for the reader. It shows the love of the sender of who is a biblically obedient godly woman who loves and reverences the Lord. It shows giving hearts when messages are sent and preferring one over ourselves. God is glorified in all this.
There are so many examples we could be here all day but those few show us how to look for the value in all things. Now lets move on to the most important topic, the GOSPEL.
* It's not only the means by which one can be saved, it has much more value to that.
* It shows the magnitude and greatness of God.
* It shows His love that was shown in Christ.
* It teaches us faith.
* It teaches us repentance.
* It teaches us that we must be born again / from above in order to inherit eternal life.
* It teaches us we must be in obedience to the One who created all things and offered His Son.
* It teaches us we must endure in all that until the end.
* It shows us the wrath of God if we are not in Christ.
* It shows us the patience and long suffering of God in mankind.
* It offers the hope of what lies ahead for the saints who persevere.
* In giving the gospel to others it shows our love of our neighbor.
* It defeats death.
* It casts down fear.
* Helps us live in this dark world through the power of Christ.
* It gives us hope.
Another area we see that people should look deeper than surface level is the entire word of God. (Just like we were discussing above about 1 Corinthians 13). Most read it like a book and take what they want from it but there's much more! As we say on the streets, go deeper! And we are here to help you.
If you were here I'd offer you a bowl of chili that I made for brother James dinner.
And I already discussed what more is behind that bowl of soup:-) Lots of love from a sister in Christ who cares about the saints who are scattered. Saints who are shining their lights to the world, walking in all obedience to His honor and glory. Brother James just said to a young brother, "satan wants us all divided in sin not in unity, encouraging each other in holiness." Let us all look deeper for the value of that love which comes from God and let me know how I can help you in the faith.
I value my beloved sisters and brothers in Christ! Hold fast sister saints, I'm here for you.
In Christ,
Sister Deb