Loving One Another

Deus caritas est! “…God is love.” 1 John 4:16

As we enter this season of reflection and renewal, let’s rediscover God calling to His children, revealing His goodness, and transforming each one with Perfect Love. "This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10) ~ Donna Oswalt

I live and love in God's peculiar light. Michelangelo 

"To love one another" is to walk in the Light! While we cannot explain God, by faith we demonstrate His love when we love others. Christian love is choosing to treat others with respect, with or without feelings of affection. To say we live in God's light and act with contradiction - with envy or jealousy, anger or criticism, pride or arrogance - we are not being truthful. When our actions offer compassion, peace, joy, humility, and generosity, we are living and loving in God's peculiar light.

...This commandment - to love one another - is the same message you have heard before. Yet it is also new. This commandment is true in Christ and is true among you, because the darkness is disappearing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:7-8 NLT 

When we seek deeper, more intimate relationships, love must be present. Without this component, there is no evidence of a meaningful relationship with God or between us and another. As we grow spiritually, our love becomes an outward manifestation of our inward beliefs. By sending Christ as His love offering, God teaches us how to love by example, by loving us more than we can even understand love.

READ 1 John 2:7-11

consider this!

- How can the message to 'love one another' be both old and new?
- How does a Christian wander in spiritual darkness?
- How do you love?

Holy One - You love me more than words; You call me to love others. The world tells me to love myself most but does not love me at all. The contrast of light and darkness shouts! Jesus, the True Light, guide me through this dark world. Help me grow my love in You. Amen. -dho

All rights reserved; copyright 2017 by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author;  Breathing Room For My Soul (blog)~ Follow on Twitter @soulchat

For more information about this ministry visit ~

MangroveMinistries.org

LIKE Mangrove Ministries on Facebook

Grace-Full

Deus caritas est! “…God is love.” 1 John 4:16

As we enter this season of reflection and renewal, let’s rediscover God calling to His children, revealing His goodness, and transforming each one with Perfect Love. "This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10) ~ Donna Oswalt

The fullness of our heart is expressed in our eyes, in our touch, in what we write, in what we say, in the way we walk, the way we receive, the way we need. Mother Teresa

We find in Christ the One who speaks our needs to the Father, the One who pleads our case, the One who intercedes for us. Christ is the sacrifice for our sins, the One with whom we are to become intimately connected, the One we are to reflect in our living. Our actions evidence our heart and define our relationship with Christ.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 

Many translations use the word propitiation in place of atoning sacrifice. It is just another word that describes atonement or forgiveness; it is GRACE! In the Old Testament, the blood of sacrificial lamb is offered for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus has become the sacrificial lamb, the perfect, unblemished lamb. The offering becomes our salvation. Christ is the very essence of amazing grace. Only through Him can we be made righteous.

READ 1 John 2:1-6

consider this!

- In God's Court, Satan is our Accuser, and Jesus is our Defender. What evidence dies Satan have to convict you? Remember - he is seeking the death penalty!

- When you stand before God, what evidence will Jesus have to present on your behalf?

- What will your verdict be? Eternal death or eternal life? What is the cost? Who paid?

Jesus, You are more than an Advocate, You are the Offering. I cannot live the truth of Your righteousness without Your suffering sacrifice. Teach me to become more and more like You. Amen - dho

All rights reserved; copyright 2017 by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author;  Breathing Room For My Soul (blog)~ Follow on Twitter @soulchat

For more information about this ministry visit ~

MangroveMinistries.org

LIKE Mangrove Ministries on Facebook

Ash Wednesday - Living What We Claim

Deus caritas est! “…God is love.” 1 John 4:16

As we enter this season of reflection and renewal, let’s rediscover God calling to His children, revealing His goodness, and transforming each one with Perfect Love. "This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10) ~ Donna Oswalt

It's tough in the desert. It's bewildering. It's destructive. It's hellish. Yet the testimony of the Old Testament, and ever more strongly, of the New, is that out of it comes new growth, new insight, new certainty that a God of love is a home among us. Charles Elliott 

This is the day Christians around the world come to His altar to receive the mark of a sinner. It symbolically reminds us that God alone is Sovereign; God alone is Grace. Humanity will never find salvation or peace or eternity without Jesus Christ. It is His forgiveness we need, His presence we seek, His love we offer. Today begins a journey of renewal, a time to reflect on our own individual faith-walk.

If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.  1 John 1:6-7 The Message

READ 1 John 1:1-10

consider this!
- Where does "this Light" originate?
- If believers are forgiven, why do we still stand before God marked as a sinner?
- Does my living what I claim reflect Jesus?

Light of the World ~ You have come that I might love. I am a sinner, but You are Grace. I confess You are Absolute Truth. Dress me in righteousness, forgiven and redeemed. May my words of living reflect the Word of Life. Amen. - dho

All rights reserved; copyright 2017 by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author;  Breathing Room For My Soul (blog)~ Follow on Twitter @soulchat

For more information about this ministry visit ~

MangroveMinistries.org

LIKE Mangrove Ministries on Facebook

Deus caritas est! God is Love!

Lenten Season 2017 – Deus caritas est! God is Love!

Beginning this week on Ash Wednesday March 1, 2017 and throughout the Easter season, you can read daily devotions on my blog. You can also sign-up to receive emails each day at Breathing Room For My Soul if you are not currently getting emails. Join me as we reflect and renew our personal relationship with Jesus. Please share this with your friends. The devotions will also be available on Facebook and Twitter @soulchat. 

This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son                               

as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:10)

This year the readings will explore God’s Perfect Love and include topics like “Love One Another”, “The Righteousness of Christ”, “Fellowship Defined”, “Too Full”, and “God’s Testimony” to name a few. Each Sunday we will look at our Oneness in Christ, with topics such as, the “Live Deeply in Christ”, “Living as Christ”, the “Christ Living Through Us” and more.  When we encounter Jesus Christ, this Perfect Love speaks our needs to the Father, brings light into the darkness, and teaches us how to love each other. Let’s take this journey together as we choose this holy love defined by Christ. Deus caritas est! ~ Donna Oswalt

Want other options? You can order my Lenten devotional book, Kindled Soul, Holy Fire from Amazon.com  which has daily devotions from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday! Order now for yourself and some for your friends!!

Power to Change the World - Living the Gospel Series

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16-17

From prison in Rome, Paul writes to the church in Colosse, a young congregation likely not more than five to six years old. The conflicts then in Colosse are the same here today. Humanity's rules and customs and lack of religious beliefs clash with the true gospel message of grace through Jesus Christ. The endless sources of media flood our minds and home daily with excuses to ignore God's message, with rhetoric to diminish God, with threats to marginalize Christianity. Paul's words that Christ is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15) exceeds logic and scientific explanation. Although we are not imprisioned in Rome, we find ourselves surrounded by darkness that desires to take us captive

Instead of constantly engaging in verbal retaliation of what's wrong with the world's message, maybe the better approach would be to simply share the majesty and wonder of our God. By allowing the Gospel message to thrive in our lives, we become living testimonies of God's love and compassion, of Christ's humility and grace to those within our spheres of influence. Deep faith, especially in crsis, reveals the magnitude and power of God. Lives full with hope, even in times of difficulty, speak loudly of the God who dwells in us. An attitude of love toward others, whether we agree or disagree, becomes the righteous fruit of worshiping a holy and sovereign God. In his letters, Paul frequently utilizes the themes of faith, hope, and love distinguishing them as "gifts from God". He writes, "Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection." (Colossians 3:14 NKJV) David Jeremiah calls this bond with Perfect Love the "power to change the world." Love within this bond of perfection becomes the living, true Gospel. - dho

Worthy of Worship - Living the Gospel Series

The Cross is a Reality, not a symbol - at the wall of the world stands God with His arms outstretched. Oswald Chambers

Some scholars refer to this passage of Scripture (Colossians 1:15-20) as the "most developed reflection of Christ's divinity in the New Testament". Others call this section Paul's doxology to the "grandeur and glory of Jesus Christ". Many believe Paul may have been giving this as a hymn for the early Christian church. During the first century in the Colossian church, various opponents question the deity and divinity of Christ. Paul intentionally brings the focus back to Christ as Sovereign and Savior. Christ is the grace that rescues us from the control of darkness and transfers us into His kingdom of love.

In purchasing our freedom on the cross, Christ's forgiveness of sins fulfills the Old Testament's true gospel message and reconciles us to the Father. Christ reigns as Creator and Redeemer, Spiritual Ruler and Sustainer. Even now, Believers in Christ intentionally share the true gospel message with praise and worship. This ministry of reconciliation invites others to know the peace and joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ, invites others to worship the true and living Son of God. These worship words in Colossians should define our hearts as we live for Christ! - dho

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

for through him God created everything

    in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

    and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

    Everything was created through him and for him.

 

He existed before anything else,

    and he holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of the church,

    which is his body.

He is the beginning,

    supreme over all who rise from the dead.

    So he is first in everything.

 

For God in all his fullness

    was pleased to live in Christ,

and through him God reconciled

    everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

 Colossians 1:15-20 NLT