The Power of Love

Weekly Devotional

The Power of Love…

By Elder Michael V. Johnson

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

~1 John 4:8 (NIV)

“I lost my friend a week ago today…”

Interesting how I have to say it out loud to help myself grasp the brevity of the loss. Immediately, I envision a multitude of people filing into our church in an out-pouring of love for this Man. You see, his life spoke. His degree of charity was limitless, the length to which he would go to help a friend was without measure, and his love for friends and family was the epitome of the emotion. Aristotle said, “The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend”, so if you’ve been blessed to find one, and then lose them, you understand my pain.

I’m reminded of the Apostle John, perhaps the closest earthly friend of Jesus. He heard Him, he touched Him with his own hands, and he even took care of His mother for Him. John wanted people to know that Jesus was “real”, because he knew then, as we know now, that the world offers some pretty weak substitutes. People who know Jesus have a bond with Him that goes beyond the superficial, beyond language, culture, economics, education, and politics. Jesus is Love. In a time span of just over three years, He set into motion a ministry rooted in Love that would overcome the world, and performed an act that has saved humanity from itself. John must have found it tough to bear witness to what his Friend had to go through, and then be obedient to his Friends request love those who performed the deed.

Love is the very nature of God, if it wasn’t, He wouldn’t have allowed His Son to be crucified for us. He’s Patient, Kind, Protective and Preserving. We need to possess these virtues to be called Children of the Most High, for how else can love be the greatest of Christian Virtues if Non-Christians can’t see love being demonstrated in our lives?

I challenge you to show love today, our opportunities to do so can disappear in the time span of a breath…

Carpe Diem,

~Elder Michael V. Johnson

Worship In Spirit & Truth

By Elder Michael V. Johnson

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” ~John 4:23 (NIV) 

Jesus said that true worshipers will worship God in Spirit and Truth. It is imperative that we understand what that means. But before we talk about what it does mean, let's consider what it does not mean.

Worshiping in Spirit does not necessarily mean worship that is always "spirited", meaning enthusiastic or excited. I say that because your worship will be dependent upon your heart. At times the heart will be joyous and excited as was the case when Miriam and the women of Israel worshipped God following their deliverance from the Egyptian army (Ex. 15:20-21). At other times the heart may be sorrowful and subdued as surely must have been the case when David worshipped God following the death of his infant son (2 Sam. 12:19-20). Although the worship was different, the spirit in which it was done was the same. 

I believe that worshiping in spirit refers to worship that emanates from the spirit of man. Paul said in Romans 1:9, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son." Because God is Spirit! This is what the scripture tells us in (John. 4:24). The true worshipper will worship God with that part of himself that is made in the image of God, his spirit.

So true worship then is worship from the inside out. In reaction to dull, routine, lifeless, boring worship services, many who yearn for a more meaningful, gratifying religious experience, are crying out that they need more emotion, more feeling in their worship to God. But there is a real danger in trying to produce externally what must emanate from the heart. Our efforts to "improve" the worship are only efforts to regulate the worship, and most times have little or nothing to do with improving the hearts out of which true worship must come. The Spirit of God flows! The hypocrisy of traditional services can never take the place of genuine worship! Improving the worship is part of the whole job of turning people to God, getting them to partake of the divine nature right? But it’s not the "service" that needs changing; it's the people that must be changed.

 

You see, the Text makes us worship something far deeper than the human emotion or surrender of will; it is the response of God's Spirit in us, to that Spirit in Him, whereby we cry out "Abba” (Father), deep calling unto deep. Its object is not ingratiation, which is unnecessary, or propitiation, which has been made once for all, but it is the loving attempt to pay our unpayable debt of love, the expression of devoted hearts, "rendering as bullocks the offering of our lips" (Hosea 14:2). It is not a physical act or material offering, but an attitude of mind. Not the service of form in an outward sanctuary, like the presentation of slain animals in ancient times, but the service of love in a life, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). Not material sacrifices, but spiritual, “Your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). Not the service behind an altar of glass or wood, but about the sanctuary of human life and need, “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27). Not shiny robes or the sounding music of drums and organs, but the worshiping glory of holy lives, in real fact, "Hallowing Thy name" (Matthew 6:9). The most opportune time for the Holy Spirit to enter the worship service is when the call of the saints are cried out unto God, because the first element of worship is adoration. Worshiping in Spirit and Truth tells God how much we love Him. 

Carpe Diem,

~Elder Michael V. Johnson

It Is God Who Names Us...

By Elder Michael V. Johnson

“And, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus.”

~Luke 1:31 (KJV) 

As the Mother of Jesus, Mary stands apart from all other women in human history. The Angel Gabriel and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, both agreed that she was “Blessed among women”, (Luke 1:28, 42). Hers is a powerful story of destiny and purpose that culminates in a great message for the masses that has survived centuries.

Mary had a humble beginning. She was an obscure peasant girl living in the village of Nazareth. She was a part of a poor family; however, she was of the Royal Davidic Line. When we are first introduced to her, she had scarcely crossed the threshold of womanhood. This was evidenced by the fact that marriage occurred early among her people, and a young maiden like Mary, who at this point in the Scripture was just betrothed to Joseph, was only fresh out of her teens, but her path was already set. 

Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name  Jesus.” Mary’s reply was to question the Angel of how this could be possible, to which the Angel’s reply was that the Holy Ghost would come upon her, and that the Power of the Highest would overshadow her. Mary didn’t understand, but her response was, “Be it unto me according to thy word.”

The Lord’s direction for our lives may come as a mystery to us as we go about our walk. It can be a challenge to stay the course as God sends us down our path. The fact that Mary was obedient in the presence of God’s Angel showed her to be a person of courage and nobility of spirit because she simply believed. Jesus Himself said that, “no mighty work could be done where there was unbelief.” Mary’s life was filled with mysteries that were beyond her, but even after the angelic choirs were gone, the strange star left the sky, the King’s ceased coming to pay obeisance, and silence fell over her household for 30 years as Jesus elevated to His time of expectation in ministry and begin to preach, Mary realized that although she birthed Him, the Angel was sent from God to name Him. She couldn’t name Him, because until this time, she couldn’t fully understand His destiny.

“Don’t allow people who don’t know your destiny to name you…only God can do that!”

Carpe Diem,

~Elder Michael V. Johnson