Good evening! In my quiet time, I find myself asking, self: What lasts forever? I thought of things that last a long time, sometimes too long and I thought about things that are temporarily good. Here are a few things that last a long time, a boring movie, traffic, bad things in our memory, anger, family and friendships. Things that are good, but only last for a short period of time, produce, bread, an amusement park ride, time relaxing and a single day. Tonight we will be reading the final verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, join me as we read on what will last forever. 

Bible Verse – 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

Reflection

Paul quickly summarizes all of chapter 13 with chapter 12 in mind, reminding us that only three things will last. In the chapter, Paul wanted to ensure, that the Corinthian church had enough information to understand that their spiritual gifts were from God, they were temporal and should be used to bring glory to the Lord and not themselves. Additionally, he wanted them to know that no matter how great their divine gift was, that love was the most important piece of it all.

Sisters and brothers, the Lord loves us. There is no greater love that we can experience. However, the love that the Lord extends to us and fills us with, should overflow in the love we express/show others. It’s easy to love the loveable, but it is the Lord who gives us strength, peace, wisdom and discernment to love those who we deem unloveable. 

Quick Reflective Question:

• Will you let the Lord, help you to show love toward someone you believe is unloveable?
• Will you trust the Lord to mature you in faith, while you trust Him with your whole heart?
• May I challenge you again to pray for the person or people that you have a hard time loving? Let me help you start. Lord, I pray for ______. Lord, you know why I have a difficult time loving this _________. Lord, set me free from ________, because I don’t want to feel like this toward _______ any longer. The anger and bitterness is destroying the joy and freedom that you give… and I desire to be set free from bondage of ________ any longer. In Jesus name, amen.

Lord, help us to love as you love, and focus on the right things.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for your love. Thank you for demonstrating your love in our lives. Your unfailing love extends beyond our comprehension. However Lord, many of us have not received the type of love that loves like you love. Some have grown up in a household where love was not displayed, had to be earned or it was misused. Lord, some of us loved so hard, but in the end our hearts were broken or bruised. Lord, you created love, which means it is good. Lord, help us to understand the depths of your love. Help us to heal from things that were disguised as love but was a form of manipulation or abuse. Lord, help us to mature in the way we show love to others. Lord, help us to have healthy boundaries and follow your guidance on how to love others. Lord, strengthen our faith and hope in you. Lord, help us to hold onto the three things that will last forever – faith, hope, and love.

Lord, we pray for Hawaii and all the people impacted by floods. Lord, help the island recover from the devastating storms.

Lord, we pray for the family going through grief and those making burial arrangements. Comfort them and give them the peace they need as they navigate through this difficult time in their lives. Lord, be with those still battling through cancer treatments and diagnosis. Lord, help them to obtain the treatment they need to be cancer free. Lord, touch them and heal them.

Lord, be with those who are ill, those who are struggling with chronic illnesses, and those who are in need of mental health assistance. Lord, you know exactly what is needed and how it needs to occur. Lord, we trust you to bring mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial provisions to those in need.

Lord, as we love on others – help others to see you through us. Lord, we pray for you to bind Satan and his minions from attacking our families. Lord, help us to sleep well through the night. Lord, send your army of heavenly angels to protect us, our families, and our homes throughout the night. Bind the enemy in our workspaces and give us favor as we align our lives to your purpose. In Jesus name, amen.

Keep praying! Keep Trusting! Keep believing!

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