Tag: loving people

Bible Verse of The Day – 7-24-14

(Luke 6:35 NKJV) “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

Learning how to love our enemies is completely opposite of what our flesh wants to do to them. We all struggle with this at times.

The flesh says, let’s get them back. How can we punish them? What can we do to make them angry or cause problems for them? How can we make them hurt the way they hurt us? How about we just run from them and never want to see them again?

Our hearts need to understand that there is only one way to handle our enemies. If someone has messed with us and caused trouble for us, if he/she is considered to be our enemy, then we need to love them, in spite of the difficulty, the pain, the sorrow, the problems, etc,. they have caused for us.

There is no way that a person can do this without the help and strength of Jesus Christ and our Helper, the Holy Spirit. If there is someone in your life that is considered to be your enemy, ask Jesus today to help you to love them and treat them respectfully, and let the Holy Spirit guide you in the decisions you have to make regarding the situation.

For even Jesus Himself is kind to those that are unthankful and evil.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-5-14

1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV) And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

Oh, if only we could get this one right!

Loving each other can seem to be so hard to do at times. We are all so diverse. We have different opinions, different personalities, different cultures, different ways of expressing ourselves. The list of differences can be quite lengthy.

But just because we’re different doesn’t mean that we can’t love each other.

God has commanded us to love each other fervently. That’s a pretty strong word.

To do something fervently means to do it with great intensity. So this means that we shouldn’t love each other halfheartedly!

So in light of our differences, how can we love each other fervently, overlooking those differences and pleasing God?

By letting Him teach us how to love. Only God can show us how to love someone fervently if there are vast differences and even things about a person that we don’t like.

As we let God show us how to love, we will have no problems loving someone we don’t know, don’t agree with or just plain don’t want to be around.

It won’t always be easy, but it can be done if we let God’s Spirit lead us!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-11-14

Proverbs 10:12 (NKJV) Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.

This is a very simple, straight forward verse that speaks so much to us if we let it.

Hatred runs rampant in the world these days. It has become a way of life for millions and millions of people, including so very many of God’s children… followers of Christ.

Evil has devastated so many of us in many different ways. And the after-effect of these attacks is bitterness and hatred toward the perpetrators.

It’s a hard thing sometimes to lay aside hate and love someone who has hurt you. We will never claim that it’s easy to do. But it’s something that we are commanded to do by God himself.

And Jesus taught this very thing in this verse:

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV) But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…

Love is from God. Hatred and bitterness come from the enemy.

What will we choose to do? It’s our choice.

Let it be love.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-20-13

Matthew 5:43-45 (NKJV) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

It amazes me how badly the world wants to put God in a box and make Him conform to their wants and desires.

I have to admit that it can make me pretty angry sometimes. Not in a hateful way, but because I love God so much that it hurts me to see and hear anyone insult Him or slander Him in any way at all.

But God is not feeble or weak and He is always in control. He has not fallen off His throne and He is not shocked by anything He hears or sees.

If anything, seeing and hearing what you and I hear on a daily basis should teach us how to love people that much more.

It’s easy to be angry and even to feel negatively toward others, but God has commanded us to do good those who hate us and to pray for those who spitefully use us.

This is a far cry from what our flesh would like to do. But God’s way is always better, so I think it would be best if we do things His way.

Can we get an amen?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-13-13

(Luke 6:31 NKJV)  “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

When we deal with people on a daily basis this is a good verse to remember and keep fresh in our mind at all times.

Some people can be really easy to get along with and life is beautiful! They help make a day go by nicely and there are no challenges.

But, sometimes we meet up with the people that like to make us miserable. You know, putting us down and being very hurtful, getting in our face, picking on us, telling everyone else how bad they think we are.

Whether they mistreat us or not, we cannot fix them or change them. Don’t try to discipline them or correct them. That will make things worse.

Jesus tells us how to handle it; treat others the way we want to be treated in any given situation.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-12-13

John 13:35 (NKJV) By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

Jesus spoke these words as a way of telling us what is most important.

It is not how we judge others. It is not by how many scriptures we memorize or can quote to people.

It is not by how well we can debate with non-believers. It is not by how many different Bibles we own, or how many times we have read them from cover to cover.

It is not by how articulately we speak or pray. And it is not by how big our church is, how many baptisms we do each year or by how nice the worship team sounds.

No. He didn’t mention a single one of those things.

He said that others will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. And let me assure you that He didn’t just mean our love for fellow believers.

Jesus wanted to make sure we know that our love for people, whether they are believers or not, is what will show them that we are His disciples.

Love breaks down barriers. Love conquers hatred. Love breaks the chains of sin. And love turns away wrath and anger.

Love shows people who God really is, without ever quoting a single scripture or requiring a person to step into a church building.

Love conquers all.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-24-13

(Mark 10:45 NKJV)  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

This Man, the Son of the most High God, Jesus Christ, came to this earth to serve. All that He did was for each one of us personally. Serving and giving of His life for us was done out of the compassion that He had for us. The love that He walked in was “perfect love“.

When we love like He loves, we won’t look at others as we used to. Our love will be for all humanity, not just those in our church, those in our family, those with the same nationality, or same denomination, etc.

It will be easy to help someone even if they mistreat us, hurt us or slander us. Our enemies won’t even seem like an enemy to us but, instead, as an opportunity to be able to pray and watch God move in their lives.

Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom for all. We are to follow His example and let His love shine through us today, to all man kind.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-19-13

Luke 6:27-28 (NKJV) 27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

Love your enemies. Hmmm. What does that really mean?

We had a reader write to ask us about this. Here’s what they wrote:

“I find it difficult to love everyone but I definitely don’t hate them. I dislike them!! Is that OK?”

This is something that every single one of us has thought about or asked about at one point or another. How can I love someone that I really don’t like?

Well, here’s the answer that we gave:

“As believers, we are taught to love our enemies. So what does that mean? Does it mean that we are to fall all over them and give them huge hugs, even though we don’t really like a person? Not necessarily.

We are to love people, not with a mushy, human kind of love, but with the love that God shows us all. This means that we care for that person as God does, and we have their best interests in mind at all times, but it doesn’t mean we have to hang out with them or spend time with them just for the sake of it.

As we draw closer to God and become more of who He wants us to become, this will become easier.

So if you’re having trouble liking people because of something they did to you, if they have a bad attitude, or even if they just irritate you, just remember to love them with the same love that God has for us, and that might make it a bit easier.”

We never know what makes people act the way they do. But if we see them with God’s love, we will see things differently!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-16-13

(Matthew 5:44 NKJV)  “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…

One of the things I had to learn and am still working on every day is learning how to love the person when I don’t like their actions.

Seriously… how many times do we look at a person, watch their actions, and look at their outward appearance before making our decision to accept them?

God does not tell us to love someone just because they look good, dress nice or act the same as us. He tells us to love our enemy…OUCH!

This kind of love takes a changing of our heart. It takes learning, discipline and action on our part to love and accept people for the person they are. We can’t do this on our own, but we can do this with God’s help!

If they are our enemy, if they curse us, if they hate us, if they spitefully use us and persecute us, we STILL need to love them. Not after they apologize or change their behavior, but in the state that they are in. It doesn’t mean we love the things they do, but we love the person.

As God’s children, we need to look beyond one’s errors, mistakes and disadvantages and love the person. How do we learn to love the person and look beyond their actions?

We have to surrender our feelings toward the person and let God’s Word change our heart. We have to follow His example. He loved us first and sent His Son for us in spite of our terrible, sinful nature. We too must love in this way.

We can’t just say we love someone; we have to show them we love them. It is by our actions that love conquers all!

Is there someone in your life today that you struggle with? Do you love them deeply but have a hard time showing them, because you’re afraid of the hurt you feel when you’re around them?

Let God teach us how to show our love for others without getting hurt by their actions.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-14-13

Matthew 5:43-44 (NKJV) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

Bless those who curse you. Love your enemies. Pray for those who spitefully use you.

That is a tough pill for some of us to swallow! It’s a tall order that many of us have a hard time fulfilling.

It’s easy to curse someone when they curse you. You know… an eye for en eye? But Jesus taught us a new and different way. We are no longer to take an eye for an eye.

Luke 6:31 (NKJV) And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

So if someone cusses us out and gives us a piece of their mind, it isn’t OK if we do the same back to them, even when we really, really want to!

If you’re in your car and someone lays on their horn and starts waving their hands at you, it’s NOT OK to do the same thing back!

Like I said, this isn’t always easy to walk out, but it is a necessity. We need to learn to “turn the other cheek”, walk away and ask God to bless that person. We need to pray that God will bless them, prosper them and shine His light in their life.

There will be days when this is harder than at other times and there will be times when we will have harsh words right on the tip of our tongue to hurl back at someone who insults us or speaks evil of us, but we need to restrain those words and be kind to that person, even when it hurts.

If we will commit to doing this, and then start to walk it out, God will help make it easier for us and before we know it, it will become second nature.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-3-13

(John 13:34 NKJV)  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

This was the very first commandment Jesus gave to the disciples after He sent Judas away, giving Judas permission to go and betray Him.

Jesus knew He would only be around for a little while longer. His time had come.

He spent His entire time here loving all those that were around Him and those that He came in contact with. This commandment can make all the difference in the world as we follow His example.

As we go to work or school, care for our children, etc., wherever we go… take time to really love those around us. No matter how they may treat us, let us love them and do what Jesus commanded.

Have a great week!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please enter your email address in the box near the upper right corner of this page!

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