What manner of love

Our Daily Bread
We have a directive at work called Users Love.  For all of our IT solutions, we need to design and implement them so that users love the tools we give them to do their jobs and serve our customers.  I like the idea, but the results are hard to measure.  Love can be fickle!  ha!

We know of one Great Love that we can measure because the Bible tells us about it over the course of centuries -- the love of God for his children.  He loves us all even when we sin and separate ourselves from him.  He sent his only Son to rectify that horrible situation.  We can be truly His.  What manner of love is this?  It is a Godly love that only the Almighty God, the Three in One, can show us. A wonderful benefit is that we can be so filled with his love that we can share it with others!  Praise God!

Lord, thank you for showing us what love is all about.  Please help us accept your love and share it with others!

Teaching Tuesday
We read the Book of Acts and the chapter about Acts in our text book this week.  I forgot how rich the stories are and the heights of spiritual fervor!  This book portrays the seemingly bungling disciples from the other Gospels as the powerful messengers of the story of the Christ after they receive the Holy Spirit.  Truly amazing stuff here.  It was written in the same style as the Gospel of Luke.

We are not positive about who wrote Luke or Acts, but the popular theory is a doctor who accompanied Paul on some of his journeys wrote both books.  The timing of the books is also in question due to the things included in both books and the things left out of both books.  For example, popular theory is that Acts was written around 80 AD.  It would be odd that the book would not mention the fall of Jerusalem in 60 AD if that were the case.  If the timing of Luke and Acts is pushed earlier, then the timing of Mark would also get pushed back because Luke includes excerpts from Mark!

The main thing I got out of the Acts of the Apostles is the overwhelming power of the Holy Spirit to move and work in us if we are willing vessels!  Praise God!

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“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21 niv).