Loving Out The Fear

All of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. (1 Peter 3:8 NLT)

God enables us to love the fear out of one another.

We drive fear from our families and friends by loving one another so supportively that every one feels safe inside the group. (1 John 4:18) This safety allows us to bring our humanity into the open, including all our pain and joy, our ups and downs, our victories and defeats.

It means you give to others the same uncommon safety Christ gives you – to be real, to be sad, to be messed up and confused, yet to be loved.

God challenges us to create a Christ-community where we love like our lives depend upon it (1 Peter 1:22) and can each “live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

We’re to weep together and celebrate together, caring for each other equally (1 Corinthians 12:25-26) as we comfort and confront, warm and warn, cherish and challenge, within an atmosphere of supportive safety.
Loving the fear out of each other requires that we develop:

Tender hearts – We give support to each other because God gives us support, and we’re to encourage others with the encouragement we receive from him. (2 Corinthians 1:4) In the New Testament, the word ‘support’ can literally mean “to increase one another’s potential.” (Romans 14:19 NJB) We strengthen one another by extending love, instead of fostering fear, and we do that by offering relationships that are safe and sympathetic.

Humble minds –True humility focuses on the worth of others. We understand our value in Christ, and we understand that God shapes each of us for a unique purpose.

Godly eyes – Loving the fear out of our family and friends – in fact, loving the fear out of the world – means we see others for what they can be, not for what they appear to be now. Jesus called Peter a rock when the fisherman was still acting on impulse (Matt. 16:18), and God called Gideon a mighty man of courage when he was hiding from the enemy among piles of grain. (Judges 6:11-12) God calls us to encourage and affirm each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11), seeing those around us in terms of their purpose and mission in life.

What does this mean?

· God enables us to love the fear out of one another. You can love the fear out of others, and you can allow the fear to be loved out of you.

· We exhibit tender hearts when we say to one another:
§ It’s OK to have a bad day.
§ It’s OK to be tired.
§ It’s OK to admit your mistakes.
§ It’s OK to say your marriage is failing.
§ It’s OK to confess your addiction.
§ It’s OK to share you’re scared.
§ It’s OK to want a day away from your toddler.
§ It’s OK to grieve a loss.
§ It’s OK to doubt, to be confused, to cry.

· We exhibit humble minds when we say to one another:
§ It’s OK to be happy you got a new car.
§ It’s OK to celebrate that you got a huge raise.
§ It’s OK to joyfully tell us you lost 17 pounds.
§ It’s OK to say you won the sales competition.
§ It’s OK to shout “Hallelujah!” because God’s presence in your life is so good.
§ It’s OK to tell us these things because we will be as happy for you as if these blessings had come to us, and we will join you in hearty celebration.

Hey N276
Be blessed by the word =D

BRAND NEW LOOK!

Hello everyone, as you can see i did some changes to the cg's blog cause i felt that it looked really really really boring in its old form. I would be editing it further but for now, if there is anything you guys want to chane feel free to just state ur views on the tagboard i added and i will get it done.

God bless
Theodore

God's Minute- On CHILDREN OF LIGHT!!!

YOU WERE ONCE DARKNESS, BUT NOW YOU ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD. LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT, FOR THE FRUIT OF THE LIGHT CONSISTS IN ALL GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUS- NESS AND TRUTH. ( EPHESIANS 5:8-9 * NIV )

Dear N276, As Childern of Light our actions shoul reflect our faith, and shine brightly to others. We should never be afraid to show our faith no matter where we are, or who we are with. After all we are beacons of God's Love shining out into dark World that is searching for love in all the wrong places. A World that is full of people without love, hope and faith.

Therefore our Savior Jesus Christ stressed this truth in the Sermon on the Mount, for He said: "YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A CITY ON A HILL CANNOT BE HIDDEN. NEITHER DO PEOPLE LIGHT A LAMP AND PUT IT UNDER A BOWL. INSTEAD THEY PUT IT ON ITS STAND, AND IT GIVES LIGHT TO EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE." ( MATTHEW 5:14-15 )

Further, you probably have known people that seem to light up a room when they enter, well, IN THE SAME WAY, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND PRAISE YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. ( MATTHEW 5:16 )

Now you may be thinking "my light is a dim one." Well, I believe that our dim light is magnified by the immense mirror of God's Love. Thus it truly shines brightly when we tell others about our Heavenly Father, and show goodness toward the people in our lives! So try it today and see for yourself, for if everyone would light just one little candle what a bright World this would be! Amen
In HIS Love & Service, Pastor Allen