Announcements

Love Can Win

May 31, 2020

Love Can Win

by

Bryan Craig

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

This world is hurting.  So many hurting, wounded people hurting one another.  The Spirit is grieving within me, and I’m sure you feel it too.  One moment ago, we all had a common enemy called COVID19, and we were working to find creative ways to encourage one another and meet the needs we saw in our communities.  We have seen God waking up His Church to greater commitment, greater Faith, greater Love. Jesus said, the world would know that we are His Disciples, if we Love one another. Now, we see a counterattack by the Enemy of our souls.  God is Love, but our Enemy is Hate.  Hate was behind the senseless, heartless murder of George Floyd.  Hate is also behind all the riots and looting and chaos.  We cannot let Hate win. I write to you Influencers, thousands of you strong, planted in cities all over the world.  I continue to believe God has raised us up for just this time in history.  The world needs us now more than ever.  The world needs to know there is another way.  The world needs Hope that peace is possible.  The world needs Love.  The world needs Jesus. As we encouraged you to pray about how to respond to COVID19, we ask you to pray about how to respond to racism, bigotry and Hate.  Ask the Lord how you can respond to those in your spheres of influence with the Love of Christ.  Ask the Lord how we can all be more sensitive to those of different races, religions and sexual orientations. We carry the Banner of Jesus Christ.  He is the Way, the Truth and the Light.  He is the author of Love.  He did not judge others by the color of their skin or their socioeconomic status or their sin nature.  He came, asking people to turn from their old ways of thinking and acting and follow Him to a life of self-sacrifice, to become more concerned about others than themselves. Love can win this war, for Love is greater than Sin.  In Exodus 20, when the 10 Commandments were given, God says that Sin would permeate all the way down to the 3rd and 4th generations.  We see that, don’t we?  But He also says that for those who choose Love, God is able to multiply this Love to 1000 generations! The current chaos, like COVID19, is going to create opportunities for us to show the world Love, to invite people on a new path, a new Journey.  They need to know how much Jesus loves them and how much He wants to bring His love into their lives, their families and their communities, so they could become agents for Love.  Lord, please use Influencers in this day and in these dark times.  Establish the work of our hands and direct our steps to those who are seeking help and hope.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13