Devotionals
His Banner Over Me is Love
“In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.’” Luke 5:12 (NLT)
When I was a kid in Super Church, as our children’s ministry was called, we sang a song that went, “The Lord is mine and I am His; His banner over me is love!”
Maybe you sang this song, too, if you grew up in church. Maybe you still know the hand motions accompanying it and would happily give us a full demonstration — and to that, I say, “Let’s do it!”
But to be honest … I was 40 years old when I had to ask Google what “His banner over me is love” actually means.
Still Wanted and Welcomed
“And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.” — Luke 15:23-24 (NLT)
Is it just me, or does anybody else talk to themselves? I do this all the time. I role-play what I think I would say if I had the opportunity. I talk through conversations with family members, friends, colleagues, and random strangers.
Usually, I’m talking under my breath in private, maybe in the mirror in the bathroom. I need this time to process my thoughts and my feelings because it helps me be prepared and attempt to be wise in how I communicate in my relationships.
Spiritual Gifts & Love
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1 (NLT)
Have you ever read Scripture and kind of glazed over it because you didn't really know what it was talking about, or it felt too fluffy to understand? The beginning of 1 Corinthians 13 has had that effect on some. Why are we talking about clanging cymbals, and what is the correlation to love? Questions that need answers, Paul!