But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23) Then verse 16, the fourth item, you will be productive. You did not choose me but I chose you to go and bear much fruit, lasting fruit. Who doesn’t want to make a contribution? Who doesn’t want to experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit? When we abide in Jesus, we will bear much fruit. If you believe that God loves you, how does it influence the way you live? Do you believe your Father, who loves you dearly, is the most powerful force in the universe? What would look different in your life if you lived in light of this truth? God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.” (1 John 4:9-12)

Why did the Holy Spirit preserve this text? What’s obviously going on here in this text? What’s obviously going on in this text is that Jesus’ love for us is very personal! He wants a relationship with us. He wants us to experience the same kind of love that he experiences. So here’s the Big Idea for the day: Jesus wants a relationship with you that mirrors His relationship with the Father. Jesus actually wants to have a relationship with you, and he wants to have it in such a way that it mirrors his relationship with the Father. Everything that Jesus is doing with you, with us, is to bring us into the same kind of right relationship with him that he has with his own Father. Good morning, men! Welcome to Man in the Mirror Men’s Bible Study, where we always have room for one more man! Let’s go ahead and do a shout out. This is going to be a lot of fun this morning because we’re going to go overseas! Today’s shout out goes to 6 men who are meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. I guess that’s the capital city. They meet on Mondays at Ron’s place using the Video Bible Study. Stan Flowers is the one who sent this in for a shout out, and there’s a picture of the guys. I also put a P.S. there; guys, we don’t have a country Director, yet, for Zimbabwe. Actually, we don’t have any country directors yet, but over the next 24 months, we’re going to begin doing some experiments and the best place to do an experiment would be where there’s somebody who might be interested in doing it with you. So just think about that in Zimbabwe! I wonder if you would join me in giving a very warm welcome to these 6 men this morning? One, two, three, hoorah! Welcome guys, we’re really glad to have you with us! Moltmann, F. (2006). Generic one, arbitrary pro, and the first person. Natural Language Semantics, 14(3), 257–281. When you allow God’s love to grow in you, it will be like a plant that produces fruit. One of the fruits of God’s love is your increasing inclination and ability to love others. His Spirit also allows you to love with a love greater than you could have on your own.I’m also mad at myself for feeling this upset about it. I guess I’m just looking for advice on how to approach these encounters in the future, because they will definitely happen. But He does want you here. He has a purpose and plan for your life and wants to see you fulfill it.

When you experience difficult things or see suffering in the world, you may be tempted to think God dislikes you or that He enjoys seeing some people suffer. This is not true. God created a beautiful, perfect world, but people brought imperfection into it. Yablo, S. (2009). Must existence-questions have answers? In D. J. Chalmers, D. Manley, & R. Wasserman (Eds.), Metametaphysics (pp. 507–525). Oxford: Clarendon Press.Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37-39) Yes, you are super awesome, but not because of how smart you are. Not because of the gifts the Lord has given you. Not because of the high profile people you know. You are super awesome because Jesus feels for you the same love the Father feels for Him. Even if you are in the midst of a difficult time or are grieving a great loss, there is still reason for hope. Everything around you may feel like it’s falling apart. Everything inside of you may feel like it’s falling apart. But God’s love and mercy will never fail you. When we love each other, it gives people a glimpse of God because God is love. It can be difficult for people to understand God, but when we love others in His name, they experience a taste of His love. For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:18-19) Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) God is spirit, and while you might not see Him physically, He works through others to fulfill His desires in our lives. You can have a child by accident, but you cannot adopt a child by accident. When you adopt a child, you choose to love, cherish and care for that child for life. When God adopts you, it’s not an accident. He chooses to love, cherish and care for you forever. He does it because He loves you and wants an eternal relationship with you. Parents love their children, no matter how the children behave. If a child says, “I hate you!” it hurts. But loving parents will still love their children even when they say hurtful things or rebel. Even when you were still rebelling against God and saying, “I hate you,” He replied, “I love you” by choosing to die for you so that He could have a relationship with you forever.I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations 3:20-23) Jesus said that if you abide in His word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32). Jesus makes all things new for those who love Him. The greatest love story ever told is the one of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. He has made a way for us to enter the throne room and live eternal life with Him in Paradise.

This kind of love doesn’t just happen. It’s the kind of love that we must act upon. Love is not just a feeling, it is a choice. Jesus wasn’t forced to love us. He chose to love us with open arms nailed to the cross. Jesus is love. Encouragement might come from one person or many people, but it will help you believe in yourself and your abilities because that’s what God wants for you. All images, designs, and text are intended for personal use. No redistribution, reselling or sharing it with others without obtaining prior written permission. Then verse 15, the last half. For everything that I have learned from my father I have made known to you. So his love produces in us joy, friendship with God, and then knowledge. He tells us everything that he learned from his father. Now you, if you don’t know how much Jesus loves you, you can read the Bible and it reads one way. But when you actually have experienced the love of Christ, when you actually have the grandchild instead of just having heard about how great the grandchild is, when you actually possess the grandchild, when you actually possess this love, then suddenly these words come to life! They’re powerful! They’re real, they’re tangible! It’s not like watching it on TV anymore, it’s like being there! You are a child of God. You may have heard this phrase many times before, but take some time to let it sink in. God, your Father, calls you His child.I found this book hard to categorise at first. The cover and illustrations seem like a child’s book but some of the scenarios that Jesus helps us through were above the understanding of a child (for example: asking someone on a date, getting that first job). After reading through the book a few times I can see it would be perfect for adults new to Christian teachings or troubled adolescents that have turned away from Jesus and need support and reassurance to reconnect with their faith. You are His delight, His beloved, what He desires forever and ever. And His amazing affection is the reason why you should feel successful and important (not your performance and achievements). Rullmann, H. (2004). First and second person pronouns as bound variables. Linguistic Inquiry, 35(1), 159–168. God loves you just as you are, but He also loves you enough to not let you stay how you are. He wants to see you grow and change for the better. He sent Jesus to die for your sins so this would be possible. When you receive God’s forgiveness and accept God’s help, you can begin to work toward positive, lasting change. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands (and that might read better as by keeping my commands), you will remain in my love (in the English language this sounds like a conditional statement. It is not meant to be in the original language. So by keeping my commands you will abide in my love), just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.