Quote from Forum Archives on February 10, 2012, 1:33 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
There are 17,000 Subscribers to the Email Devotional

02.10.12

Finding Lasting Love

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. - 1
John 4:16b NKJV.

Which statement best expresses your impression of Valentine's Day: 1)
Valentine's Day is.a day for those in love? Valentine's Day is.dumb and you're
wasting your money? Personally, I have always had a good impression of
Valentine's Day from the time I was a little boy to the present. I have
great memories of receiving Valentine cards and candy when I was a boy. I
have great memories of giving Valentine cards and candy. As an adult, I have
enjoyed being able to express my love for my wife in some tangible way on
Valentine's Day. However, as I found out today, not everyone shares my
enthusiasm for the day. There is an article today on the street dot com by
Jason Notte with the title of, "Valentine's Day is Dumb and You're Wasting
Your Money."

Jason Notte begins his article with this statement: "Valentine's Day is best
illustrated in one series of actions: Withdraw from an ATM what you'd
usually spend on date night, withdraw that amount again, show it to the
person you love most and then flush the entire sum down the nearest toilet."
Notte as you can see has a very jaded view of the day. I will concede that
Valentine's Day has become commercialized, but no more so than Christmas, or
maybe even Easter. It may be that your sense of value of and meaning of this
holiday is based on your own experience with love. If at the current time
you are not in a relationship or have had a bad relationship, your view of
Valentine's Day probably mirrors that of Jason Notte. However, if you are in
a happy relationship, a long and happy marriage you most likely view
Valentine's Day in a more favorable light.

There is an old saying, and that "Love is fickle." Dictionary dot com
defines "fickle" this way: "likely to change, especially due to caprice,
irresolution, or instability; casually changeable: fickle weather. Not
constant or loyal in affections." Fickleness in love mirrors our humanness.
We humans frequently change our minds about nearly everything, including
love. Contrast this characterization of humans with the character of God
described in Numbers 23:19 NKJV, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor
a son of man, that He should repent (change His mind - NIV 1984). Has He
said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
God remains the same (Hebrews 13:8). God does not change His mind as we
humans do.

One of the character traits of God is that of love. We are told this in 1
John 4:16 NKJV, "And we have known and believed the love that God has for
us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."
Also, in 1 John 4:8 NKJV, "He who does not love does not know God, for God
is love." In what we know as the Love Chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 we are
told this about God's kind of love, "Love suffers long and is kind; love
does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not
behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does
not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NKJV)." The entire chapter is summed up with this
statement in verse 13, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but
the greatest of these is love."

With the character traits of God in mind, we can make better choices as to
relationships that will succeed. No guarantees, but you will have greater
success in relationships that are based on a mutual respect and love for God
through Jesus Christ. This is why the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Do
not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"
As I always say in marriage ceremonies that I perform, "The greater your
love for Jesus Christ, the greater the love you will have for each other."

Copyright © 2012. Ed Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since
January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush
Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early
1990s. The distribution of these first devotionals was primarily through the
Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities throughout the United
States and Canada.

Please continue to pray for my wife, Jeanie, as she recovers from surgery
and ovarian cancer, and is now going through chemo. Many prayer needs are
posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
post your prayer requests there and they will be forwarded to the Burning
Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray
for me.).

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You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
www.kkbifm.com/
Several videos of Clark's sermons can be found at his church website:
www.fbcbrokenbow.com

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
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