Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.
Basketball is more important to me than shoveling snow. When I was about 14 yrs. old, I would shovel half the driveway so I could play basketball. My dad would peek his head out the door and stare at the unshovelled half of the driveway. he didn't have to say anything, his mannerisms told me I should finish removing snow from the whole driveway. Without a word he spoke, "Finish the job!"
Birds who give birth seldom leave their hatchlings until they are ready to live on their own. Finishing the job in life is important. Fathers who leave their children have accomplished half their legacy as Dads. Human beings have a tendency to leave things half finished for many reasons. Among them are losing motivation to finish after the initial excitement of something new has worn away. Some men stop pursuing their wives after they're married. That's only a halfway pursuit. They need to continue pursuing more ways to show love as a lifelong endeavor.
When Jesus died on the cross He said "It is finished." He did what He came to do, even though He asked His Father to remove the suffering that He was about to endure. It was excruciating,, but He finished what He came to do. Pursue God and be a finisher in taking Love to places you've never gone before.
Birds who give birth seldom leave their hatchlings until they are ready to live on their own. Finishing the job in life is important. Fathers who leave their children have accomplished half their legacy as Dads. Human beings have a tendency to leave things half finished for many reasons. Among them are losing motivation to finish after the initial excitement of something new has worn away. Some men stop pursuing their wives after they're married. That's only a halfway pursuit. They need to continue pursuing more ways to show love as a lifelong endeavor.
When Jesus died on the cross He said "It is finished." He did what He came to do, even though He asked His Father to remove the suffering that He was about to endure. It was excruciating,, but He finished what He came to do. Pursue God and be a finisher in taking Love to places you've never gone before.
DAY 18 WORD
“For if ye shall diligently keep
all these commandments
which I command you,
to do them,
to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways,
and to cleave unto him;”
Deuteronomy 11:22
all these commandments
which I command you,
to do them,
to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways,
and to cleave unto him;”
Deuteronomy 11:22
DEEP THOUGHTS
When my Dad looked at me and gave a message without speaking, he communicated a deeper meaning through silence. Within the spoken word, there are deeper meanings that are silent to those whose ears are unwilling to hear. The word "trust" is held in high esteem when applied to a person. If you don't trust somebody because they're known as someone who doesn't finish the job, you might silently mistrust them.
In my life, I desired to help everybody. It may have been a futile attempt to feel valued, to be liked and to be included. There's a funny thing about always saying "Yes, I'll help!" You end up being mistrusted because you can't help everybody and then you might as well be known as a liar and untrustworthy person. Folks won't say it, but there's a silent undercurrent of disapproval when your name comes up.
In Deuteronomy 11:22, God is once again urging His people to keep His commandments and Love like He does. I think brought His record of repetition up to a greater level. The first phrase, “For if ye shall diligently” and the word “keep,” are both defined with the same Hebrew word, "shamar." The Strong's Concordance defines shamar with these words, to keep, guard, observe, give heed, to keep, have charge of, protect, save life, watch, watchman (participle), to watch for, wait for, retain, treasure up (in memory), to keep (within bounds), restrain, to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow), to be on one's guard, take heed, take care, beware, to keep oneself, refrain, abstain. You could say that God is using the word "keep" two times in a row. That's taking repetition to another level.
What caught my eye next was the things that God is asking us to do, to do them, to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Here is the breakdown on the meaning of those phrases from the Strong's Concordance:
“to do them” – asah; to do, fashion, accomplish, make, to do, work, make, produce, to deal (with),
to act, act with effect, effect, to prepare, to make (an offering), to attend to, put in order, to observe, celebrate
to acquire (property), to appoint, ordain, institute, to bring about, to use
“to love” – ahab; human love for another, includes family, and sexual, human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep, wisdom, human love for or to God, act of being a friend.
“to walk” – yalak; to go, walk, come, to go, walk, come, depart, proceed, move, go away, to die, live, manner of life, to lead, bring, lead away, carry, cause to walk.
“and to cleave” – dabaq; to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch, to cling, cleave to, to stay with, to be joined together, to cause to cleave to, to pursue closely, to overtake, to be made to cleave.
To wrap up what went on in my mind after reading through those definitions is this: God wants us to take action that causes an effect of greater love to God and man as the manner of life that we pursue and follow God closely. God's Love keeps going to a new level.
In my life, I desired to help everybody. It may have been a futile attempt to feel valued, to be liked and to be included. There's a funny thing about always saying "Yes, I'll help!" You end up being mistrusted because you can't help everybody and then you might as well be known as a liar and untrustworthy person. Folks won't say it, but there's a silent undercurrent of disapproval when your name comes up.
In Deuteronomy 11:22, God is once again urging His people to keep His commandments and Love like He does. I think brought His record of repetition up to a greater level. The first phrase, “For if ye shall diligently” and the word “keep,” are both defined with the same Hebrew word, "shamar." The Strong's Concordance defines shamar with these words, to keep, guard, observe, give heed, to keep, have charge of, protect, save life, watch, watchman (participle), to watch for, wait for, retain, treasure up (in memory), to keep (within bounds), restrain, to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow), to be on one's guard, take heed, take care, beware, to keep oneself, refrain, abstain. You could say that God is using the word "keep" two times in a row. That's taking repetition to another level.
What caught my eye next was the things that God is asking us to do, to do them, to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Here is the breakdown on the meaning of those phrases from the Strong's Concordance:
“to do them” – asah; to do, fashion, accomplish, make, to do, work, make, produce, to deal (with),
to act, act with effect, effect, to prepare, to make (an offering), to attend to, put in order, to observe, celebrate
to acquire (property), to appoint, ordain, institute, to bring about, to use
“to love” – ahab; human love for another, includes family, and sexual, human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep, wisdom, human love for or to God, act of being a friend.
“to walk” – yalak; to go, walk, come, to go, walk, come, depart, proceed, move, go away, to die, live, manner of life, to lead, bring, lead away, carry, cause to walk.
“and to cleave” – dabaq; to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch, to cling, cleave to, to stay with, to be joined together, to cause to cleave to, to pursue closely, to overtake, to be made to cleave.
To wrap up what went on in my mind after reading through those definitions is this: God wants us to take action that causes an effect of greater love to God and man as the manner of life that we pursue and follow God closely. God's Love keeps going to a new level.
DAY 18 PRAYER
Thank You God for pursuing us.
You don't leave us in our guilt and shame.
You rescue us when we surrender to You.
Repetition is something we need.
Thank You for never giving up on us.
You keep repeating forgiveness.
May we do the same.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.
You don't leave us in our guilt and shame.
You rescue us when we surrender to You.
Repetition is something we need.
Thank You for never giving up on us.
You keep repeating forgiveness.
May we do the same.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.
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