Daily Bread – July 28, 2022 (The Fifth Day – Genesis 1:20-23) John 13:34 – I give to you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Love One Another The most injurious thing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Church today is covenant breakers. Of course, the covenant breakers who love you today and hate you tomorrow always have a justifiable reason as to why you are not worthy of their love and friendship. However, if they applied their reasoning to their own relationship with the Lord Jesus, then they would find just cause for the Lord to break covenant with them as well (Matthew 18:33). We are the family of God and must behave ourselves in a fashion that demonstrates how we are those who know God; and therefore, love one another with the same kind of unfailing love He has loved us with (1 John 4:20). Even in the Old Testament, God would not allow anyone to bear a grudge against another, and demanded mercy and forgiveness among those who were in covenant with Him. We must understand the nature of forgiveness and the blessed life of living in the joy and pleasure of this kind of community – this is the life of God. When you run into people who are always talking bad about someone else, Paul said to not be found in their company (Romans 16:17). Of course, if they will humble themselves and hear correction, then a brother is saved from the error of his ways. The love of God can only truly be expressed by the way we lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16). This is the kind of love Jesus both taught and modeled for us. This kind of love can only be realized by a willingness to submit to the humility the Holy Spirit would lead us into. Humility is one of those glorious and divine expressions of the nature of God. It was the expression of our Lord’s life that He commanded us to come and learn about (Matthew 11:29). If we were to highlight the most important behavior all of God’s people must devote themselves to it would be to be clothed with humility and to walk in love (1 Peter 5:5; Ephesians 5:1-2). Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 7/28/2022
