4.07.10_1 Th. 3:12,13_Your love

Praise the LORD!!!

   Much of what the LORD has laid upon my heart has to do with the subject of love. Love for the brethren and for those outside of the church. If you're familiar with the events of the last year of my life you'll know the reasoning behind this and it is a topic which needs to be focused on by the church. For this is something that is highly lacking in a large number of Christian's lives! 

    1 Th. 3:12,13


        12 "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones."

    Again, we have verses that relate to our ability to love those around us. Those of the brotherhood of Christians and also to those outside of the church. Why so much concentration on loving others?  For one basic reason, this is that which CHRIST HIMSELF personified while here on earth. For many years, this fact has been taught within our churches and seminaries, that GOD is the personification of love. So much so, it seems as if people have taken it for granted, that this is the way Christians act. Yet, this isn't that which we see. We see just the opposite though, there is a lack of love being shown by those within the church, to others within the body of CHRIST and also to those outside the body and living for the world! This is in line with 'reverse psychology,' where when you want someone to do something, you tell them 'not' to do it! The worse part about this is that it is something totally outside the realm of that which is considered Christian ethics.

   This is what is being shown by the church though, through it's actions. Not all churches, but to an extent, a good portion of them. Or maybe it might be a better way to state it, as not the church itself, but those within the church, when outside of the 'four walls' of the buildings. Because we see a lot of work being done by church groups, but when those very same people are off by themselves, they're totally different beings. One of the statements that I heard a good number of times, when I was meeting Christians on the road, "there are to many hypocrites within the church!" We see plenty of action when people are gathered together under the roof of the church, but when these same people leave the building and the company of their Christian brothers and sisters, you'd not recognize them at all. There seems to be a night and day difference between the two beings.

   There is one really big problem with this attitude too, that is the fact that GOD sees us all the time. Not just when we're in communion with other Christians, but as well as when we're alone or with others outside of the church (the body). A good point to make here, is the fact that we each receive the HOLY SPIRIT as a seal, a sign of our being redeemed by the LORD. HE dwells within us, 24/7, never leaving us for a moment. Though there may be times that we grieve HIM and HE withdraws HIS presence from upon us,  HE hasn't left us, but just pulled back from being fully realized by us. Kind of like when the sun goes behind a cloud during the day, though you can't feel it's warmth and its gotten darker, it is still there, having never left it's placement in the universe. This is something we should really think about, because it could change the way we think and act at times. The HOLY SPIRIT is constantly within us, knowing every word we speak, or action we take, right down to the very thoughts that govern all these. Think about this!

   As to our love being shown on a full time basis, this is something that each one of us will have to work on ourselves! Something that must be undertaken with a very serious mindset and with a large amount of prayer involved. For the type of change that needs to take place, needs to happen from the inside out, and this is something we can't do on our own. It is something that the HOLY SPIRIT is going to have to be in charge of and actually do most of the work on. For the center of the problem is our hard and calloused heart, a heart that has become so accustom to life within the world, with all of it's hurts and sorrows, it has developed a shell around it. Impenetrable, except by the most expert of hands, ones that have dealt with more hearts of this kind then we could ever imagine. So pray and be ready, for when the work begins, it might not be the most pleasant of experiences you've been through in your life, but one that the results of, will of created a totally new creation out of you.   





Prayer request can be sent to: prayers@vineofchrist.org


GOD bless and good day,

Rev. Marshall Barth

Vine of CHRIST Ministries

Vine Ministerial Network International