Holy Week: Jesus Teaches Love

Holy Week: Jesus Teaches Love       


In my last three blog posts we witnessed Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, (Palm Sunday); saw Him shake things up at the Temple; rejoiced as He blessed children and healed the afflicted.  


Now let’s move on with Him into mid-week.


Jesus continued to teach about what the Kingdom of God is like. In parable after parable He illustrated God, His Kingdom, and man’s flawed propensities. He also continued to heal the sick and afflicted, showing love and compassion toward people. Still, the religious leaders wanted Him gone. 


One of the Pharisees, who was a lawyer, approached Jesus and asked, “’Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ 


“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’


“’This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:36-40 NKJV).  

Illustration by Lesley James, from 

The Lord Has Need of YOU, by Connie wohlford

Have you meditated on that passage lately? 


Jesus pointed out that if we would love in the way He described we would be fulfilling all of the Law, which includes the Ten Commandments, and all of the Prophets. We would be fulfilling everything that the statutes of God require. 


Let’s go back to the essence of love. Jesus also said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17 NKJV). 


The center of God’s character is love. God is love. 


Jesus came to Earth because of that love and He was (and is) walking, talking perfect love. In just a couple of days that perfect love would be nailed to a cross as the sacrificial Lamb of God. He would take the punishment we each deserve for the sins we’ve each committed. 


As we approach Resurrection Sunday, lets ponder on that perfect love.


As followers of Jesus—we who are in Christ—lets consider the words of the beloved disciple, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8 NKJV). 


With God’s help, by His Spirit in us, we can love like Jesus. 


This Holy Week, I again want to encourage you to read, in your Bible, about the last days of Jesus’ life. Quite a bit happens in these few days. See for yourself. Begin your reading at these points: Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19:28, and John 12:12. Go ahead and read through to the end of each of the Gospels between now and Easter Sunday. Be blessed with me as we learn Jesus. 


Each day this week, I’m posting just a few highlights from those amazing days in history. Also, I’m using some of the pictures and quotes from my book titled, The Lord has Need of YOU.* The illustrations are watercolor paintings by artist, Lesley James. 


Thank you for traveling with me through these extraordinary days. God bless you. 


*The Lord Has Need of YOU, by Connie Wohlford. Copyright Connie Wohlford, 2019, Hoot Books Publishing.

*The Lord Has Need of YOU can be purchased directly from me via email author@conniewohlford.com or through Amazon,  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1687536104/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

©Copyright 2020 Connie Wohlford

Rejoicing in Hope: First Aid for Marriage

Rejoicing in Hope: First Aid for Marriage



Do you see the progression here? Rejoicing in hope -> patient in tribulation ->  continuing steadfastly in prayer (Romans 12:12).


Hope can save lives. A person without hope is at risk of suicide. A person with hope—even a glimmer—finds reason to want to go on living. 


The Hebrew word for hope is tiqvah (Strong’s 8615*), pronounced teek’-vah. Its literal meaning is cord. Its extended meaning is expectancy—something that’s longed for and eagerly anticipated. 


The scarlet cord that Rahab placed in her window was a tiqvah cord. It literally gave her and her family the hope of being rescued from death when Joshua conquered Jericho (Joshua 2:12-18).


Rahab had recognized that God was with the Jewish people and knew it would be futile, even deadly, to oppose them. Therefore, she protected and helped the Israelite spies who had come to stake out the city of Jericho. When they left her home, which was on the city wall, they instructed her to put a scarlet cord in the window. When the Israelite army approached the city, they would see the scarlet tiqvah and rescue those inside. On that infamous day, when the ancient city of Jericho fell, only Rahab and her household were spared. The walls of Jericho came tumblin down and no one else survived.


Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (NASV). 

Internet photo

Many like to relate this passage to marriage. In a marriage the husband and wife are each represented by a strand of cord and are wrapped together making a stronger two-strand cord. If they are followers of Christ and invite Him into their married life, they have a three-strand cord—Jesus being the third strand. The strength of that marriage is then supernaturally multiplied. 


In my own experience, when Jesus was invited into our marriage, its strength was multiplied. My husband was not a Christian when we got married. Yes, we were unequally yoked together and, no, I don’t recommend that kind of marriage. Our early years were filled with trials, hurt, and discontent. Many marriages would not have survived what we went through. 


Finally, when my husband got born-again, becoming a Christ follower, things changed dramatically. Jesus became the third strand in the cord that held our marriage. He brought hope and renewed love into our relationship and our home. I no longer suffered under the dark cloud of concern that our two sons would become victims of a broken home. 


Though I sincerely thought there was little hope for our marriage, I continued to hope we would make it. I remember thinking, “If something doesn’t change, a year from now we will not be together.” 


Because I knew my God, I found reason to rejoice in the small ray of hope. With God’s help, I was “patient in the tribulation.” When a friend challenged me saying, “How’s your prayer life?” I recognized it was lacking. That’s when I began to continue “steadfastly in prayer.”


It was at about that time I read the chapter titled, “Love Your Husband to Christ,” in Beverly LaHaye’s book, The Spirit-Controlled Woman. I could see that my waning love for my husband needed a boost and that my prayer life needed to intensify. For the sake of our children, I asked God to help me in both of those areas—and He did. 


It was evident to me that my love for him, which began to grow, was beyond my own capacity at that time. And that unconditional love gave me a greater unction to pray for him. In less than a year, it happened—we were no longer unequally yoked. 


If you lack hope in any area of your life, I want to ask you this question: “How’s your prayer life?” If it’s lacking, get it in gear. “The effective prayer of a righteous man (or woman) can accomplish much” (James 5:16b). [Parentheses mine]


Let the tiqvah cord from God—the hope and expectancy of good things—come into your spirit because He is well able to make a way where there seems to be no way (Isaiah 43:19).  


With Him, hope gives us the power to look up (Luke 21:28); gives us the strength to go on (Psalm 46:1-3); and makes a way when circumstances are bleak (Hosea 2:15). Follow Paul’s instructions in Romans 12, which includes rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, and continuing in steadfast prayer. 


Honoring God and following godly instructions will always yield good results. I'm not saying everything will then be perfect, but the end result will be for our good. I’m sure glad I took Paul's advice over forty-five years ago. I hope you will too.


©Copyright 2019 Connie Wohlford


* “Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary,” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Crusade Bible Publishers, Inc., Nashville, TN - 1890, page 126.

LOVE: The Perfect Bond of Unity

LOVE: The Perfect Bond of Unity  

The Apostle Paul deeply loved and had great concern for other followers of Jesus in the fledgling first-century church. He wrote many letters of encouragement and instruction to those who were young in the faith.

In Paul’s letter to the house church in Colossae he reminded the members of their life-changing experience in Christ Jesus when he said, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2 NKJV).

He then exhorts them to rid themselves of sins and vices unbecoming of Jesus and His character. The next few verses list several “do nots” and then he transitions to point out some Christ-like virtues, we should strive to attain.

Paul had been informed of issues which were causing division among the members. He had addressed some of those matters earlier in his letter. Now in Colossians Chapter 3, he was speaking about personal relationships among the believers.

Have you seen or experienced disagreements or personality clashes within your church fellowship? I dare say that if the congregation was made up of human beings, your answer is, “Yes.”  

Photo by Connie Wohlford

Paul gave some directives to help elevate all the members and to bring the unity desired by God Himself. Paul wrote, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:12-15 NKJV).

In another version, verse 14 states: “And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Colossians 3:14 NASV).

God’s command for us to love is paramount in His cosmic plan for Mankind. 

When asked for the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ’This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31 NKJV).

Why did Paul say that love is above all other things? It’s because love is the bond of perfection. It is the bond of unity.

Bond is a strong word used to describe one thing being fused to another—thus joined securely. To love one another in this way is to be joined together unconditionally. This agap̵é love is spiritual and selfless, sacrificial and unconditional. 

It is through the grace given by the Holy Spirit that a person can have this kind of love and this is why the world (those who are not in Christ) does not understand it.

The word, unity, in Greek, is defined, “perfect, one who reaches a goal. Perfection or perfectness, completeness.”¹

So, can you see how agap̵é love among the members of a church fellowship, and among followers of Jesus in the body of Christ as a whole, can be such a force—a bond—that unifies and perfects?

Let’s ponder this love that is put into our hearts by God and imagine how it really could bring unity in the body of Christ. Would the church represent Christ well? Would the church attract more non-Christians? Would this church accomplish great things in the building up of the body of Christ? I believe we would agree that the answer to each of these questions would be a resounding, “Yes!”

As we grow in Christ-likeness we will grow in His kind of love for others.

Please join with me in prayer:

Lord God, I ask that You help me to love like Jesus loves. Even when I don’t see eye to eye with my brothers and sisters, help me to give way to Your Spirit to override my personal feelings and allow agapé love to spring up out of my heart—love that is genuine and unconditional. In this, I am doing my part to nurture the perfect bond of unity in the body of Christ. Thank You, Father, for the power of Your grace working in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

©Copyright 2019 Connie Wohlford

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1. The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, 2008, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN, page 2290.

The Royal Law

The Royal Law 

Do you obey the Royal Law? Do you know what it is?

Here’s a hint: According to ancient Jewish sages, Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Akiba, the Royal Law summarized and fulfills all the Commandments. 

Recently, I did an unscientific survey on Facebook asking this question: ”Without looking it up, do you know what the ‘Royal Law’ is?” At last count, this post received 625 views and of the nineteen who commented, only two said they knew the answer. So, if you’re unacquainted with the term, you’re not alone.

Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ answer to the question, “Which is the greatest commandment?”

He responded: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV).

A neighbor, according to Christ, is anyone—"irrespective of nation or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet.” (1.) 

I don’t know about you, but there are some people in my life whom I find hard to love. One might say, “They rub me the wrong way.”

Side Note: A few days ago, while sitting next to my fifteen-year-old grandson, I asked him if he knew the meaning of rubbing someone the wrong way. He said, “No.”

I then put my hand on the top of his ankle and rubbed upward on his hairy shin to his knee.

He immediately rubbed his leg from the knee downward, undoing my disruption, and tilted his face at me sporting a confused look.

I grinned and said, “That’s what it means to rub someone the wrong way—when you do something that makes the person uncomfortable or annoyed. I just rubbed the hair on your leg the wrong way and you didn’t like it, did you?”

He understood and shook his head.

We all have someone in our lives who rubs us the wrong way. But that person still is among those who Jesus says is our neighbor.  

In the first few verses of The Epistle of James we’re instructed on loving people and treating all individuals respectfully. James doesn’t mince words when he writes, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:8-9).

James encourages us to love like Jesus. He emphasizes that we not place value on a person based on a characteristic or circumstance of that person. In our humanness, this is a tall order, but with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do it.

There it is—the Royal Law. James’ letter is the only place in Scripture where this term is used. He bases his exhortation on the teachings of Jesus as well as his Jewish upbringing in the Torah.

The Royal Law goes all the way back to Leviticus 19:18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Wow—did Yahweh really need to end that directive with, “I am the Lord”? Humm. I believe He meant it. 

Lawn of the Deltaville Maritime Museum, Virginia - Photo by Connie Wohlford

Loving as you love yourself is also a concept worthy of discussion. “’You shall love your neighbor as yourself:’ the word ‘love’ (Hebrew ahav) could be understood as esteem. Love of one’s neighbor begins with self-esteem. Then one esteems his neighbor.” (2.)

 

Do you esteem yourself? Self-respect and self-esteem are essential before we can sincerely esteem and respect others. This brings to mind The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” an offshoot of Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31.

Referencing the passage from Leviticus, writings of Rabbi Hillel prompted a song titled, “Rabbi Hillel’s Golden Rule.”  Here is part of the chorus:

Treat other people how you want them to treat you
This rule is golden, this rule is true
Don't do to others something that would make you feel bad
Think about other’s feelings, no matter if you’re happy or mad

Are we obeying the Royal Law? We need divine help in accomplishing this objective and it is one of many reasons God put His Spirit in followers of Christ Jesus. Let’s do as James instructed and love others as we love ourselves, even without partiality.

Let us pray. Oh Lord, You know me well and You’re very aware that I often don’t have love in my heart for some people as I should. Yet, You want me to love everyone. I know that with the help of Your Holy Spirit, I can obey the Royal Law. Please help me be mindful of others and yield to the flow of love You wish to pour out to my neighbors through me. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name—Amen.

©Connie Wohlford 2018

1.    www.biblestudytools.com; The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon

2.    Spirit-Filled Life Bible; Thomas Nelson Publishing; 1991; Commentary for Leviticus 19:18; page 172

3.    https://www.jewishlearningmatters.com/AC-Rabbi-Hillel-s-Golden-Rule-533.aspx;  "Rabbi Hillel’s Golden Rule" by "Miss" Emily Aronoff Teck

So Now—Love! 1 Peter 1:22-25

So Now—Love!  1 Peter 1:22-25            

(Continuing in 1 Peter)

Have you noticed that not everyone is easy to love? … And some of those people live under our own roofs or are in our own church fellowships. They really test our love capabilities. 

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In 1 Peter 1:21, Peter acknowledges that our faith and hope is in God and wants his readers to grasp what has taken place on the inside which helps us love others. He then says: “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever’” (1 Peter 1:22-23).

 

Peter wants his readers to comprehend what has taken place and gives real-life application which reaches the core of God’s great salvation—Love. So now—LOVE! 

He points out that we have seen the truth of the Gospel. We get it—at least we should. We know the truth through God’s Spirit. Thus, our souls have been purified. So now this is the means by which we love the brethren sincerely. 

[“When Peter and other writers of Scripture speak of the brethren, to whom are they referring?” you might ask. The literal meaning is brother, but scripture writers are generally referring to followers of Jesus—members of God’s family—as brothers and sisters.]

Verse 22 begins with the word, since—meaning “by reason of” or “insomuch as.” Peter is showing how our souls have been purified. As always with God, it’s about love.

After all, love is the reason:

> God created Mankind.

> God sent Jesus to earth.

> God offers everlasting life. 

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus said, love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40). By reason of the fact that you have purified your souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, now love one another fervently and with a pure heart. 

Doesn’t that sound lovely? But the reality is, it’s not always easy. People can be very annoying. Bet you have someone pop into your mind right now. 

How do we love others fervently and with a pure heart? 

Fervent means impassioned and intense. It’s heartfelt and zealous. A pure heart is translated, unhypocritical. It’s a heart void of dishonesty and self-seeking motives. That person who popped into your head—imagine loving them enthusiastically and without selfish motives. 

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Now, there’s some incentive!

So, how can love our brethren enthusiastically, without hypocrisy and with sincerity, integrity, and with unselfish motives?

Notice Peter inserts, “through the Spirit.”  <>  That’s it! That’s the key. Only with the help of “the Helper” (John 14:26)—the Spirit of God—can we love in such a God-like way! This is agape love.

So, for those who challenge our love aptitude—through God’s Spirit we can sincerely love them. 

Consider it an act of worship…Ponder that for a moment. 

Peter continued the thought in verse 23: “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

Here we see the regenerating power of God’s Word. The word, regenerate, is very descriptive regarding what takes place when the Word of God is understood and applied to one’s life. 

In the physical sense—in a living organism, when regeneration occurs, new tissue is regrown to replace lost or injured tissue. Merriam-Webster (online) defines regenerate: 1- formed or created again; 2- spiritually reborn or converted; 3- restored to a better, higher, more worthy state.

Through regeneration a radical transformation takes a person from the physical realm into the spiritual realm. This occurs when a person is born again. It is a supernatural work of the Spirit of God just like salvation is a supernatural work of God.

Jesus said, “I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:24-25). 

We need to be regenerated. “Just as we owe our natural existence to the Creator’s spoken word and life-giving breath, so we owe our New Birth to the power of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s activation of its power. God’s intent for our created being is only completely fulfilled when our spirits are alive toward Him. As sin has produced spiritual death in people (Ephesian 2:1-3), so salvation in Jesus Christ has provided spiritual life. This text (v.23) tells us that the ‘seed’ that has produced new life in us is the Word of God, which has begotten us again by the Holy Spirit’s power (Titus 3:5) and made us members of God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The power of God’s Word—the Holy Scriptures—is in no way more manifest than in this: its power to bring spiritual life to all who are open to its truth. “* 

Thank You, God, for the regeneration power of Your Word which has brought us into spiritual rebirth, that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible. It is through Your own Word which lives and abides forever—Jesus, the Word made flesh. Lord God, we’re so grateful. We are indeed gratefully redeemed! So now … we really can LOVE! 

Have you experienced a time when the Holy Spirit helped you have genuine love for a challenging person in your life? Your comments are welcome.

©Copyright 2018 Connie Wohlford

*Spirit Filled Life Bible, NKJV, “Kingdom Dynamics,” Thomas Nelson Publishers, page 1909.