“Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world.” John 14:23 MSG Scripture reminds us repeatedly how important it is to have a vision. Proverbs 29:18 tells us that where there is no vision, the people perish. That sounds pretty serious to me. We must be able to see the world, specifically people, through the eyes of God. Hate runs rampant in our world, and many choices, reactions, and opinions are fueled by hatred. We struggle to see beyond ourselves because we live in a self-centered world. “Love everyone” is painted on banners, but cancel culture slams the door on others, ruining lives.  We must have vision. We must be able to see beyond what is right in front of us, and to do that, we must have love. Love for God and love for our brothers and sisters. If we don’t have love, what do we truly possess? 1 Corinthians 13:2 tells us that we could do many incredible things, but if we didn’t love others, we would have nothing. “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love,…

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-12 Forgiven – to no longer hold sin against the person who has sinned against you. The beautiful story that Luke recorded in chapter seven of his Gospel illustrates the forgiveness that the Lord bestows on those who come to Him.  The woman who dared to enter the room where Jesus and other men were eating, carried in her hands the most valuable thing she possessed, an alabaster jar filled with perfume. She knew she was a sinner and that everyone would be judging her. She knelt at Jesus’ feet and washed them with her falling tears, then wiped them dry with her hair before kissing them. Then she broke the jar and poured the ointment on His feet. The host began to question Jesus as to why He would allow this sinner to even touch Him. Jesus reminded him of all the things that he had neglected to do, but this woman had done so much more. Luke 7:47-48 “Wherefore I say…

“Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.” Psalm 18:35 Oxford Dictionary gives two descriptions for the word “strong.” 1. having the power to move heavy weights or perform other physically demanding tasks. 2. able to withstand great force or pressure. This description would suggest that for a person to be strong, they must dominate and outperform. However, we who love the Lord, understand the secret to true strength – to be strong, you must be willing to become weak. To be spiritually strong means to be empowered or to embrace empowerment from God. Paul experienced some kind of disability that kept him from being all that he wanted to be for the Lord. We do not know what it was, but after asking the Lord to remove it three times, he submitted it to the Lord. He did not deny his feelings, but he did not let them control him. II Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,…

 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  I Corinthians 6:20 Precious: of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly. Oxford Dictionary Most of us have something in our possession that we consider precious. It may be something that belonged to our parents or someone else in our family. It may be something that we worked for long hours to be able to purchase. It might not seem to be of any value to others, but we treasure it and protect and preserve it. We also use the word precious to describe people in our lives who are dear and cherished. We value them highly and would do anything we could for them. As parents we consider our children to be very precious to us. Why does Jesus consider His people precious? Because He paid the supreme sacrifice to purchase us. Think of what He suffered. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He earnestly asked the Father if there was any way to change what He knew was about to happen. He endured the mock trial, the beatings, and the false accusations. He endured the agony and…