Let’s study The purpose of The Daily Lily’s website and renew our commitment to God by ‘Serving Others with love.” We will break our study down in three sections. This series, Love, “Serving Others with Love.”
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 (NLT) And, vs. 12, gives the commandment, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
John 14:15, “Jesus says, if you love Me, you WILL keep my commandments.”
The Daily Lily’s mantra is:
Trumpeting Faith, Giving Hope, Serving Others with Love
Questions for reflection:
How can we tell if we are loving God first? Or, ourselves? Others? Or, have no love at all?
Do we feel we understand the manta of The Daily Lily? Do we read it, pray about it and want to serve it?
Maybe we think it wise to change our purpose for this site. What do you think?
Let’s talk about love!
thedailylily.com 
Sara,
You have written the scripture in John 15:13 here and I’d like to share the footnotes. The footnotes, I believe, help to answer the above question: “How can we tell if we are loving God first? ourselves? Others?” Read with me: ” We are to love each other as Jesus loved us, and he loved us enough to give his life for us. we may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving. Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more.”
Sara, our purpose at thedailylily is “trumpeting faith, giving hope, serving others with love”….now the footnotes say “listening, helping, encouraging, and giving” are all ways to give love. I believe the blogs we have here on our site certainly encourage me and help me, and I’m sure anyone reading them and studying them could be encouraged and helped, also. I have to admit, though, I haven’t prayed enough nor worked as hard as I need to, at times. I pray the Lord will forgive me, and help me to keep on, keeping on, as I want to be a light for Him, and be a part of loving others.
Needles insightful comments mention four action words, listening, helping, encouraging, giving. My thoughts are that these, along with what Jesus
commanded us to do…’lay down our lives for one’s friends’, require prioritization of our time, energy, and resources in order to be able to effectively use them for others’ benefit. That takes making a decision to love and then putting it into action.
The Daily Lily is a wonderful vehicle that God provides us to listen to others by reading their comments, and then giving help and encouragement by responding back in posting comments in a timely way. In order to do this, it may mean ‘laying down’ our own personal agenda and placing God at the top of the priority list since His priority is caring for and meeting the needs of others.
thedailylily.org is DAILY. Every day one can come to the watering site and find refreshment, admonition, counsel, wisdom and joy in the Word that goes forth from this place.
That age-old proverb that says, “Love is not a feeling it is a PERSON”, is true in that we must manifest the LOVE That is THAT PERSON CHRIST, in all we do.
And it takes wisdom NOT to “love” in the natural which may or may not be advantageous….but IF we love in the SPIRIT, it will always be the right ’emotion’ in that it will be Christ’s love.
David Teems writes about St. John’s love Epistles, “John knew the deep martyrdom of surrender (to Love).” He goes on to write…”May you be fearless in the day of CHANGE, when Love would ask another death of you”…and I might add, another and another.
He writes, “Oh, if we could loose the grip of our mortality, of our HOLDINGS in this life, for the sake of Love of others, of ‘otherness’ for the sake of Oh so rich a Gospel. To gamble our self-existence against the Majesty found in the smallest acts of kindness…selfless, invisible, eternal, ennobling” for the sake of bringing in a soul into the Kingdom….as it were, “taking a bullet for LOVE.”
That must be our prayer every morning that the Holy Spirit will allow us the privelege of ministering to a soul in the light of the Gospel and the opportunity to discipling. He will do it if we mean it.!!
Footnotes from Needles, “Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more.”
What stands out to me in the notes is ‘today.’ This says to me love is active at all times. I think the story found in Luke 19:2-10, about Zacchaeus and Jesus illustrates my point of today. Zacchaeus was not a good man like Jesus but he climbed up a tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus and Jesus took notice and said come on down Zac and let’s go to your house and have a meal. Now, how I love that. Jesus invited himself to this man’s house to eat. Zac was a very rich man and he let Jesus come and eat. And, look what happened, Zacchaeus ‘today’ fell in love with Jesus and wanted to be like him. And, as the story goes Zac open his pockets and poured out finances on the poor. Plus paid back anything he might have stolen from anyone with big buck interest. What a Bank!
Love to me is about daily, today! No, I don’t think we should change our purpose for this site. We should just be sure we are like Jesus ready even today to invite ourselves to eat at someone’s house and go. And, then be like Zac and let them come when they invite themselves. This might mean coming to the communion table with others often. Maybe coffee at Starbucks. Love in this story was not hanging out with the ones everybody loves. Sorry! But, look at the results:
“Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Zacchaeus was saved by his faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus proclaimed his mission on the earth, “To Seek and Save the lost.”
I invite you to read the Story of Zacchaeus and Jesus. I think you will find it one of the most fascinating and dramatic stories in the gospels on love. This story shows Jesus reaching out in love to the most unloved but with the best result.
Sara,
I have just read the account of Zacchaeus and Jesus, as you suggested. I’d like to share the footnotes for verses 9 – 10. Read with me: ” When Jesus said Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham and yet was lost, he must have shocked his hearers in at least two ways: (1) They would not have liked to acknowledge that this unpopular tax collector was a fellow son of Abraham, and (2) they would not have wished to admit that sons of Abraham could be lost. But a person is not saved because of a good heritage or condemned by a bad one; faith is more important than genealogy. Jesus came to save all the lost, regardless of their background or previous way of life. Through faith, the lost can be forgiven and made new.”
Since we are discussing “love”. I’d like to share some scripture on love. Read with me, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-7, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
A lot of instruction here, for me to ponder on, what love is.
Needles, you keep digging a well for us. I understand your last scripture in I Corths. 13 to mean, that I can do lots of good things but if I don’t get the desired results then it has only be noisy clanging. For instance, when Jesus went to the home of Zacchaeus out of love. Zacchaeus was seeking and Jesus caught a very BIG FISH. That is how I see it, no fish, no love. All things (love) we do must be with PURPOSE. Jesus had a purpose of love, “To Seek and Save the lost.”
How does this quote relate to love….“Men hate those to whom they have to lie.” -Victor Hugo
One way the quote could relate to love is that only by telling the Truth, the whole salvation message of Jesus Christ (which is keeping the commandment of Jesus), is love truly shown to men. If we say we are ‘Christians’ and we don’t speak this Truth, we lie and that really shows how much we hate someone because we don’t care about their souls or if they go to hell.
“He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.” I John 2:4 NKJ
“He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.” I John 2:9
Wouldn’t you say, then, that if we do not tell someone the truth that gives him/her the opportunity to know Christ because we don’t want to make difficult relationships more difficult; we would rather bob along in our plastic-peace relationship with them than take the chance to…as David Teems put it….’take a bullet for them” or say, laying down our self(ish) life of pride….”oh, they might hate us if we tell them the truth…oh, they might get mad….oh, they might make fun of me….oh, they might turn against us and we’ll lose them forever….oh, oh, oh, poor me! All of that happened to Jesus but He persevered and “took the bullet”.
So, maybe Debi is right. If you love them you’ll tell them. If you won’t tell them, maybe you do “hate” them. And those that HATE, as Debi quoted, are in darkness. This is serious.
We have listed David Teems list of why we may be hated if we tell the truth, is that right?
OK, aren’t we hated anyway by them if we are Christians and they are not? John 15:18 Jesus says, “the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.”
The Psalmist writes, “How long will you love delusions and seek false gods.” Psalms 4:2
Oh I am sorry. I did not indicate well where David Teems’ quote ended and my comments began. David Teems’ quote ended with “Bullet for them.” The following comments were my conjecture as to what some of us Christians say when we are reticient to witness and to tell others about the Lord and all that He has done for us. And yes…the world does hate just as they did Jesus, in His physical lifetime and beyond. So, you’re right….. what difference would it make if they hate you for a lie (not telling them the truth about CHRIST) or if they hate you because you DO tell them and they have to make a decision.
Loneliness looks like the key for not telling truth according to our thoughts. This is the way it seems when I melt the reasons down. Maybe God allows us to feel lonely for earthlings so we will desire a deeper relationship with Him.
Part definition of loneliness: “It may also be described as a yearning for love or companionship, which is unfulfilled, but cannot seemingly be achieved, or may stem from the lack of love in one’s life, and hence may lead to emotions such as rejection, despair and low self-esteem.:
Jesus says, John 10:10, “…I have come that you might have life, and life to the fullest.” If we love God first and above all else…would not these other issues be at a minimum or not at all? Why so hard, this big world of Love?
Your ‘melt’down Sara makes sense. Related to this, reading from your book, “The Dance of Healing, The Ultra Healing Spirit Comes from Within” (pg 5), “Let’s discover together the essential stages of excavating those deep longings that are within each of us. When left unattended these longings may at times take the form of addictions, therby distorting our creativity.”
If we find ourselves enslaved to lonliness, we can know that Jesus came to set the captives free and that he offers us a partnership with Himself, promising, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 NKJ
It would seem that once we experience this kind of deep relationship and become secure in His love and appreciation for us, that than we have an affirmative answer to the question above, “Why so hard, this big world of Love?”
OK, Debi, seems like you repeated what I said, right? Why do we not want a deep relationship with God or maybe want one but don’t have one? We could pray and ask God for a greater desire to know Him. St. Paul said there was nothing he wanted more than knowing God.(Philippians 3:10)
Conjecture: maybe we want a relationship with the Lord that doesn’t cost us too much?? Just an idea. Maybe we want a relationship with the Lord that is “my way” and not totally His Way. My mother, Sister Grandma, used to sing along with songs like from On the radio…There was a song that went “ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL”. Googling it I found that Frank Sinatra made it famous. And it seems that that is a line that the Lord Jesus Christ sings to us…”All or NOTHING At ALL”
In the another vein it seems Frank Sinatra changed his tune a few years later when he sang, “I DID IT MY WAY”. That seems to be the sentiment many of the Lord’s people have, also.
Jesus cries out to us…”ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL” And we respond, “I DID IT MY WAY!”
Yes, Sara, what I said does seem repetative of what you said.
‘Why do we not want a deep relationship w/ God?’ A deep relationship requires transparency. When you allow God to talk to you, you will probably see things about yourself that were buried deep and are not always easy to face and once you see them, you are responsible to change them. That can be a tough process to work through but if you want to have a deep relationship and grow and experience real joy and peace, you ask God to help you press on.
In a continuation of my comments above, this is from Moody Devotional, this morning. In Matthew 13: 44-45 concerning the Kingdom of Heaven ; that it costs everything and my ALL. The first parable Jesus told about the Kingdom of Heaven spoke of a man finding something precious hidden in a field and selling ALL that he had he took the profits and bought that Field with the hidden treasure in it.
The second parable tells of the man who, finding the pearl of great price went and sold ALL that he had and with the profits bought that PEARL Moody explains that the man had to be able to distinguish between the other pearls on the market and the TRUE TREASURE PEARL. In each story, Jesus refers to the Field and the Pearl signifying the Kingdom of Heaven. In each story Jesus shows exactly what it costs each of us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Not the “I DID IT MY WAY” kind of religious attitude but the “All OR NOTHING AT ALL”.
Moody says, “Christ commanded us to count the cost of discipleship and the cost is everything. Have we “sold ALL” ,,,our goodies, our trinkets, our worldly treasures…”for this treasure? Or are we hedging our bets and holding back?”
I remember the story of Ananias and Saphira who ‘held back’ when they declared that they had not, ‘held back’. Jesus knows!! He wants it ALL. And He is worth it ALL, so very much worth it ALL!!
1 John 3:1-2 (The Message) says
1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.
2-3But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.
A model that ‘gave it all’
A model that reached out and gave words of kindness and hope.
A model that gave the best and was costly
A model that looked on those the world shunned and turned their lives around
A model that turned blindness into sight of the Lord who was before them.
A model that washed the worldliness from the feet that had trod the world
and were dirty, tired, and worry
A model that brought life out of death
A model who loved so much he hung on the cross so you could get up off
yours which you had laiden with heavy bags of sins, a real de-cluttering in our lives.
A model which has your names in his hands and sits and intercedes for you daily.
If we follow our model and the Holy Spirit voice we surely will be led to love as we should because we would be imitating our model Jesus Christ. It is such a shame that we take our eyes off our model at times and need someone to tell us to get back on track (discipline). When Jesus comes we want to walk hand in hand with him down that holy highway to His Father’s House.
Yes thedailylily needs to keep Serving Others in Love.
Jesus asked Peter three times the same question, ‘Do you love Me?’ Peter answered twice that he did, but because Jesus asked him this same question the third time, Peter became grieved. Each time Peter told his Lord that he loved Him, Jesus responded with a similar command, a request: ‘Tend My lambs or Feed My sheep.’ (John 21:15-17) As I think about this and the grief that Peter must have felt piercing his heart, I wonder if Jesus didn’t feel grief also and maybe ask Himself,…will someone who says they love me show it by feeding my sheep.
How does one feed His sheep? Suppose one would like to but not know how? Or, can’t find any sheep. How does one find sheep to feed?
Obviously, Jesus & Father KNOW who will be entering into the Kingdom and who will refuse. I suppose if we were to listen carefully and seek His face each day and enquire of Him to bring us into contact, one way or another, to the
one(s) He has in mind for this day, I suppose…if we did ask and did listen carefully…He would show us which ones, at which time and make the opportunity for us to make the connection. However, He could tell us all day long and if we won’t listen, or if we put our spin on it, or if we won’t obey but would rather “DO IT MY WAY”..then we’ve missed it!!!
Jesus told Peter, if you love me, “Tend My lambs.” as Debi has quoted above. Rena gave a visual picture of love from Message, I John 3, and MG has morphed the image with, ‘we may just not be listening.’
I always have the warm feeling that Jesus was allowing Peter to redeem his behavior after Peter denied Him three times prior to the crucifixion. From this conversation Peter may have been broken inside or prideful or ashamed to speak and share his love due to sorrow So Jesus stoked the fire of love from one man to another on the behalf of God the Father and Peter’s mission on earth. Maybe the reason we are not able to ‘serve others with love’ because we, too, may have denied Jesus Christ in some way and now we are stuck in pride of the heart and need someone to tend the fires of our hearts.
So, from this story we find we need heart to heart communication, forgiveness,healing, and a response to recommit to go and tend the sheep. By the way if you look up the definition of stoke, as in stoke the fire, it means, tend the fire. Keep it burning. 1 Thessalonians 5:19, tells us, Keep the fire of the Holy Spirit burning. Tend it!
Brian Sawyer “I am so full of the word right now I am scared to go anywhere cause people might catch on fire around me …………HALLELUJAH!!!!!! Thank you God for people who love You and devote their lives to spreading the gospel!!!!!!”
Brian! What an excellent state to be in. To be full of God’s Word….like the river of life we sang about this morning in our worship service….that well that springs up and forward, releasing the washing of the water of the Word. How great a conflagration even a tiny spark from the the “fire of God’s Word within you can make to “ignite others” as Sara puts it.
Brian, your post brings these words of Jesus to mind….”I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Luke 12:49
You sound like you are a burning torch in the Lord’s hand.
Love was a driving force in the Apostle Paul’s ministry. He followed John’s advice about laying down his life for a friend. He exhorts us to serve the same love to others.
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:14, 15 NIV) ….”And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Cor: 5:19, 20 NIV)
in this morning’s service the pastor’s lesson was the culmination of a several weeks’ study on the Fruit of the Spirit and receiving the Holy Spirit. He taught that although man can manufacture myriads of things he cannot manufacture fruit. Only God can create Fruit . He gave an example that if he wanted the ‘apple fruit’, for instance, he could buy a bushel of apples, go out to a tree and TAPE the apples on the branches of the tree. That would only result in a fake apple tree. And when the storms came they would blow the apples off the branches and the tape would get wet and unstick. He said we cannot FAKE FRUIT. We cannot “tape fruit to our outer man to look like we are bearing the true FRUIT of the Spirit.” It reminds me of those who know the letter of the law, and rebuke at every turn, but don’t show love in their demeanor. Their admonishment is self-righteous and though the LETTER OF THE LAW IS THERE the Fruit is sorely missing. And when the storms come, or some kind of crisis, their fruit is blown away and the flesh takes over.
He also said that there are those who study and pray but hoard all the fruit to themselves. They have some Fruit but
when the fruit is not shared and given forth to others the fruit rots and stinks. He said there are some stinky Christians who hoard their faith instead of sharing it.
The pastor pointed out many interesting facts one of which is that the Law of the Harvest is that when you plant A SEED you will reap MORE than you sow.” One seed produces many times itself and that is a joyous truth, for sure.
Jesus said, “good measure, pressed down and shaken together….will men pour into your bosoms but with trials in this life.” That’s where the Fruit is manifested…yes or no.
May all desire the word and be filled like Mr. Sawyer and spread it wherever they go – true seed of love being poured on a parched world. Now that would be GODLY HARVEST. I had been searching for a song I heard sometime ago that we sang going to and from Holy Spirit inspired gatherings. I would change the first verse to There are revival fires blowing all across this land. Won’t you catch fire…….
Sweet Wind
(David Ruis)
There’s a wind a-blowin’, all across the land
A fragrant breeze of Heaven
Blowin’ once again
Don’t know where it comes from
Don’t know where it goes
But let it blow over me
Oh, sweet wind, come and blow over me
There’s a rain a-pourin’, showers from above
Mercy drops are comin’
Mercy drops of love
Turn your face to heaven
Let the water pour
Well let it pour over me
Oh, sweet rain, come and pour over me
There’s a fire a-burnin’, falling from the sky
Awesome tongues of fire
Consuming you and I
Can you feel it burnin’
Burn the sacrifice
Well let it burn over me
Oh, sweet fire, come and burn over me
Make sure you put the name or names of people in the song you want God to touch.
I place G—– in it now.
Second verse changed – Mercy drops are fallin from his mother – bent in prayer before the Father God.
Mercy drops of love are falling from the heavens
Turn your face G—– to heaven
Let the water pour
Well let it pour over G—–
Oh, sweet rain, come and pour over him.
Let him stand this day
In holy healing, in holy healing
Let Him stand Holy Holy Holy
Before the Lord Almighty.
Lord Hands touches in mercy does He does He love yo.
Continue with the G—– or the name you want in it.
Last line, Oh, sweet, sweet fire
Burning all ill affects away.
Standing in perfect healing before the Lord day.
Hallelujah!
Yes Rena. It says “burn the sacrifice “….we know that that is…our flesh and all its worldly desires. Even proud flesh glories in its own piety. We want that fire of revival to come. Revival means to quicken that which is dying or almost dead. That means the church. Sinners cannot be revived because they were never alive in the Spirit. So first the church must be revived and then the revival fires burning in God’s people will “ignite others”, as Sara put it.
I want revival for the Body of Christ, for all of us so that we can bring in the loved ones, the homeless, the hurting the orphans, the widows, all that Jesus is calling to come home.
“Softly and Tenderly Jesus is calling. (paraphrase)
Calling to you and to me (THE CHUCH)
Time is now fleeting the moments are passing
Shadows are gathering, Deathbeds are coming
Coming for you and for me
Refrain:
Come home, come home you who are weary come home
When revival comes will we be ready for the dedication and commitment that it will take for the last big harvest? Will we be revived and ignite the sinners that about us every day of our lives? Will we allow our souls to be revived so that we can be a laborer in the fields? Oh God I pray that revival WILL come and we will come home to our first LOVE, Jesus Christ and the white fields of harvest will be reaped for the last times.