abandoned to Christ.

Yesterday we got to closely examine the first two verses of Romans 12:9-13. This amazing passage is filled with so much of God's goodness, trying to discuss it in one article is like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant—though you're thirst will be quenched, much of the rich nourishment will be wasted.

Since a meal is best enjoyed when it can be savored, not when it's being shoved down your throat, we'll continue to take our time and cover only verse 11 today.

"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

~Romans 12:9-13 (ESV)

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit [or Spirit], serve the Lord. I love how God uses two totally opposing words together, in the beginning of this sentence: slothful and zeal.

Slothful (adj.): sluggardly; indolent; lazy.

Zeal (noun): fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.

God is basically saying, "Don't be lazy in being eager to live in step with, and by His Holy Spirit" (Gal 5:25). What an incredible way to make a strong and sobering point. We, in our depraved thinking can actually be lazy in doing good, lazy in being enthusiastic, lazy and indifferent to living with purpose, but mostly, lazy in showing genuine love to God and others. It sounds awful to be like that, but if we're honest with ourselves (me, included), we've all done that or are still in the midst of being deceived by this lie: Just surround yourself with religious people, religious talk and religious activity, and this will make up for neglecting to feed your soul by daily studying, meditating and personally applying God's word to your life.

It is a sin for any Christian to neglect this commandment (Jn 1:14, 6:27; Matt 26:26) from Christ. Constantly renewing our minds with God's word is essential for our hearts to be transformed so that our lives will reflect the agape love and the glorious power of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:20). Without this vital Christian discipline, our lives will look exactly like unbelievers, except with a few vain, "religious" activities added to it.

So, you go to church regularly, you sing in the choir and/or volunteer in multiple ministries within your church, you attend or participate some how in every event at your church and you even homeschool or private school your children, and perhaps you extend your "service" outside of your church walls to the homeless in your community or to shut-ins, or regularly involve yourself in other such "noble" causes.

Do not be deceived into believing that all your religious acts please the Almighty because unlike the rest of the world, He is not fooled by meaningless, external activity; He is moved by hearts that are humble and demonstrate genuine love towards Him, and others (which is the greatest commandment).

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him...All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word."

~2 Chron 16:9a; Is 66:2

In verse 11 of this beautiful passage, we are commanded by our Creator God to live as He has purposed us to live: to pursue love, peace and righteousness (Rom 14:19; 2 Tim 2:22); to chase hard after Him; to live for a single purpose—the pleasure and glory of Christ the Lord. Essentially, we need to expend every breath God grants us to know Him more so we can love Him better...and better and better and better.

So, if you're a true child of God, you'll listen to what the Almighty Himself says:

"If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother [or sister in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

~1 John 4:20-21

We either trust, believe and live off of every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord (Deut 8:3; Matt 4:4) or we trust, believe and live off of every thought and lofty opinion that we've crafted in our own minds ( Prov 18:2; 2 Cor 10:4-5).

No one can simultaneously live by God's perfect commandments and by their personal affinities. So, test yourselves and see if you have the genuine love God defines in Romans 12:9-11. Then join me again for Part 3 as we examine and learn to apply verse 12 to our lives in practical and meaningful ways.

Please join me as I continue Part 3 of this three part series on Christian love.

What is "genuine Christian love"? Let's see how God defines it.

~Romans 12:9-13 (ESV)

Jesus said that it is by our love for one another that the world will know that we are His disciples (Jn 13:34-35). The Lord did not say, it is by our theology, doctrine, knowledge, memorization of Scripture, our "service" or ideas of what holy living is, that will be the evidence to the world that we are, in fact, His disciples, He said, it is by our love for one another...just as He has loved us.

Let's break down each verse and examine our own hearts in the light of God's holy word so that we might quicken our spirits to the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 9: Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Jesus defines genuine love to be His love—agape love. Love that neither seeks nor even considers self, but only seeks and considers God and His will for everyone. Humility and sacrificial living are consistently evident in genuine love. And in this pure love from, and of God, a Christian would supernaturally hate all that is evil (as God defines evil) and hold tightly to all that is good, e.g., hate a lying tongue, hate flattery, hate the murdering of the innocent (as in abortion), hate gossip, hate any kind of dissension (especially within the Family of God); love the truth even when it hurts, love those who speak God's truth to you, love discipline, love justice and mercy (not to seek it for yourselves, but to give to others)...essentially, love all that God says He loves and hate all that God says He hates. And you can only discover this by daily being in His word and praying that He will daily manifest the life of Christ in your life (Gal 2:20; Heb 5:14).

Verse 10: Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. One of the best exegesis of this verse, is the one I heard from Pastor and Teacher, John MacArthur. Here's an excerpt from his sermon series (in 1984) entitled, "Brick by Brick":

"it's marvelous that he uses it here because he says in the Christian family we ought to have...the warm affection of love. So we ought to be marked by a natural love that we share with all believers, and I think you've experienced that. I know I have many, many times. I can go into an environment where I do not know anyone and if they love the Lord Jesus Christ, it doesn't take very long for us to have a very unique sense of love. There is a common bond that stretches beyond culture and time and place and events and circumstances and even though we have no history and no knowledge of commonness in terms of lifestyle or likes or dislikes, there is an immediate sense of affection with one who belongs to the family of God. Have you felt that? Sure you have. And that is to be an affectionate demonstrative kind of love. We are to have love for those within the family. And again I say, it is not a love built on attraction, it is a love that is given to anyone who belongs to the same Savior, the same Lord, the same Father.

It is not just a theological love, it is an affection, a tender, kind, caring, concerned affection. The pure love of those who belong to Jesus Christ, it's what John talks about in 1 John 5 in that very lovely statement that he makes, 'Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and every one that loves him that begot loves him also that is begotten of Him.' A marvelous statement.

If you love God, you love those who belong to Him. And there is a warm affection for brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's why in Ephesians Paul says, 'Be ye tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.' We are to be identified as those who love."

~Brick by Brick (Part 2) by Pastor John MacAruthur

Full article originally appeared here at Grace to You

The second part of verse 10 is that we are commanded to compete with one another...but in what? In showing off our talents, knowledge or anything we deem valuable? By all means "No". We are commanded by God to outdo one another in showing honor to others, rather seeking to be honored.

What does that look like in a real-life? Well, it might look something like this: you just got a piece of your work highlighted in a public medium, where your name is mentioned and character honored. Naturally you are excited, and supernaturally, you are humbled. So first, you give thanks to God for allowing the gifts He's given you, to be used to edify and encourage others, then you pray and seek to bring honor to someone else, rather than announce to everyone you know and don't know, that this great honor has been given to you. It's a test. Will you pass it (Prov 27:2)?

There's so much good stuff in this passage to really sink your teeth into and chew on, I'm going to stop here for today to allow these two verses to really marinate in your soul.

Allow the genuineness of God's love that He has worked in you, be evident in your daily life.

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ...Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

~Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13 (ESV)

Please join me as I continue Part 2 of this three part series on Christian love.

71 years ago today, the Japanese executed their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. As many reflect of the events of that day, let us also reflect on some of the personal lives that were affected by World War II.

From Pearl Harbor to Calvary is about the incredible, transforming life of Jesus Christ, manifested in Captain Mitsuo Fuchida who eagerly served in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Prior to his salvation Fuchida led three successful air attacks: Pear Harbor on December 7, 1941; Darwin, Australia on February 19, 1942 and against the Royal Navy in British Ceylon (presently Sri Lanka) on April 5, 1942.

After the war, Fuchida entered civilian life as a very dissatisfied farmer after being a decorated and highly honored soldier. He began to wonder why he survived so many calamities while thousands around him died. Slowly his thoughts came to something he’d never considered: A Creator God. During this time of deep contemplation about life, Fuchida was summoned by General Douglas MacArthur to testify at the war crimes trials in Tokyo. One day, as he was getting off the train, he accepted a tract from an American. The tract was entitled, “I Was a Prisoner of Japan.” It was the salvation testimony of Sargent Jacob “Jake” Daniel DeShazer, a member of the Doolittle Raid, and a prisoner of Japan in Nanking, China for 40 months.

In this tract, Fuchida read that DeShazer was brutally mistreated by the Japanese officials and initially, he hated them for it. But after 25 months in prison, and multiple requests for reading material, the Japanese acquiesced and gave the American prisoners Bibles. They were told they could keep them for only three weeks so DeShazer read the Bible with great fervency and passion. After reading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, DeShazer repented of his sins and received God’s free gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ and committed his life to sharing the Gospel with those who were once his enemies -- the Japanese.

Intrigued and baffled by such love, forgiveness and peace, Fuchida decided to purchase a Bible for himself. Just like DeShazer, Fuchida read it with fervency and passion. When he came to Luke 23:34 and read, “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” he finally understood how true peace could be obtained. On September 14, 1950, Fuchida became a new creation in Christ, after realizing he too, was one of those that Christ came to save, he asked the Lord for forgiveness (repented of his sins) and gave everything he had to his new Captain, Jesus Christ the Lord, who called him to be a minister of the Gospel of Peace, rather than a man of war.

Fuchida spent the next 26 years of his life as an evangelist.

You can purchase "From Pearl Harbor to Calvary in paperback at Amazon.com for only $5.98, or download it to your Kindle for only $4.95.

Don’t miss out! And be sure to pass on this blessing to others.