LOVE LEADS US 2 INTEGRITY / Crossroads

This is a devotion with the theme

from 1 Corinthians 13:5

"Love Is Not Self Seeking”

LOVE LEADS US 2 INTEGRITY
by
Rebecca Cooley

Adapted from John 14:15; 15:10; Psalm 119:127; Mark 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

Lord, I want to love You more. How can I love You more?

If you really love Me, you will obey My commands. If you keep My commandments and you continue to obey My instructions, you will abide in My love and live on it in.

Lord, every day I surrender my heart and my will to You. I keep Your commandments and live by Your Word. When I mess up, I humble myself and talk to You about it. I seek Your presence every day. I receive grace and mercy from You every day. But Lord, how can I express my love to You even more?

Child of mine, the greatest commandment is walking in love. When you choose to walk your life every day in love, you are not only obeying the Scriptures but You are worshiping Me. There is no commandment greater than this. When you love and respect people, you are expressing love and respect to Me and I see this as faith.

Lord, I love Your commandments more than gold and more than money. Yes, Lord, even more than perfectly refined gold and more than anything this world has to offer. I will choose to do what is best for others rather than myself. I choose selflessness and in this way I am expressing my love for You.

© LoveWalkPublishing

Devotion Authored by RebeccaAnnCooley

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CROSSROADS

(Adapted from John 14:15; 15:10; Psalm 119:127; Mark 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

Verse:

On life’s journey, when life happens to me,

I find myself at a crossroads again

One path is the path of selfishness

The other is the path of selflessness

Chorus:

Lord, I choose selflessness

Lord, I choose righteousness

Lord, I choose integrity

[Lord, I chose what is good and is right in Your sight (3X)]

Lord, I chose to walk in love

Bridge:

Lord, I love You with all my heart,

With all my mind, with all my strength

Lord, I love my neighbor even as myself

Lord, I chose to walk in love

Lord, I chose to walk in love

© LoveWalkMusic

WordsAndMusic by KentCliffordCooley

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THE MASTER’S LIST / My Way or the Highway

This is the 7^th of 7 devotions with the theme

From 1 Corinthians 13:5

"Love Does Not Insist On It's Own Way”

THE MASTER’S LIST

by

Rebecca Cooley

(Adapted from Proverbs 18:13; James 1:19;1 Corinthians 13:5)

Rebellion can show its ugly head in many different facets in our lives. It can be very subtle and undergirded or it can be ‘in your face’ defiance. At either extreme, rebellion is an act or attitude against authority. When you do the opposite of what you are asked to do, it is rebellion. When you don’t do something you are asked to do, it is rebellion. When you argue and insist on your own way, it is rebellion. The Bible says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. That means the devil is very involved in it.

As an Honor School student, seeking to make the Master’s List, it is our assignment to stand against the enemy's ploys and expose and remove rebellion from our own hearts and the hearts of our children.

Father, I look inside and examine my own heart and I rid myself of any and all rebellion. With this old hymn, I pray,

Let Thy goodness, 
like a fetter bind my wand'ring heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; 
prone to leave the God I love.

Here's my heart, O take and seal it, 
seal it for Thy courts above.

Father, I give you permission to expose rebellion in my heart and to make me repel it far from me. I do not want rebellion hidden in the crevices of my heart and left to grow in my personality. Thank you for teaching and training me to recognize rebellion first in me and remove it.

© LoveWalkPublishing

Devotion authored by RebeccaAnnCooley

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MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY

Devotion: The Masters List

(Adapted from Proverbs 18:13; James 1:19; John 13:34; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

Verse 1:

Should I say, 

“Lord here’s my list, would You come and bless it?

Or should I pray, “Not my will but Yours;

I will go where ever You send me?

Chorus 1:

It’s my way or the highway

That’s not love, that’s not love

It’s God’s way, not my way

That is when I begin to Love the Lord

That is when I love the Lord

With all my heart and mind and strength

Verse 2:

Should I say to my friends,

“You’ve got to do it my way?”

Or should I ask,

“Got any ideas that you’d like to send me?”

Chorus 2:

It’s my way or the highway

That’s not love, that’s not love

How about you, what would you like to do?

That is when I begin to love my neighbor

That is when I begin to love them even as myself

Bridge:

I won’t insist on my own way,

Not with the Lord, not with my neighbor

But I will yield to the Lord today,

“Lord have Your way and let others have their say

I’ll let others have their say

© LoveWalkMusic 

WordsAndMusic by KentCliffordCooley

THE MYSTERY / Process Of Love

This is the 4^th of 4 devotions with the theme

From 1 Corinthians 13:5

"Love Is Not Self Seeking”

THE MYSTERY
by
Rebecca Cooley

(Adapted from John 12:23-24; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

Crowds of people came to Jesus after Lazarus was raised from the dead. Many just wanted to get a glimpse of Lazarus. Jesus knew it was time to describe His death. Lazarus’ death and resurrection was a type of what was about to happen to Him. His words could have been:

You have seen a dead man raised to life. I know that many of you just want to see Lazarus with your own eyes and reach out and touch him and go home and talk about this miracle. I want to tell you that a greater miracle than Lazarus’ is about to happen. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified and exalted. I will die and I will be raised from the dead just like Lazarus. I am like a grain of wheat. If the grain of wheat is not planted, it will remain just one grain, alone and not producing anything. If the grain is planted and decomposes in the ground, it will sprout and produce a rich harvest. My body will be given to death as a grain sown into the ground. My resurrection is compared to the blade springing up from the dead grain. Just like the grain that produces an abundance of fruit, my life will yield a rich harvest of souls.

It is a physical truth that the whole body of the grain dies, is converted into the earth and forms the first nourishment of the embryo plant. The only part of the seed that lives is the germ and the germ helps the new plant receive support from the surrounding soil. Though the body of the Lord died, there was still the germ, the quickening power of the Divinity, which revived His body and put a stamp of approval on the atonement. The merit value of the atonement sacrifice was multiplied. So through the death of that one person, the Son of the Living God, salvation was procured for the whole world. Never was an allegory more appropriate or an illustration more suitable to describe the mystery of life.

Jesus’ death on the cross was the greatest act of selflessness ever expressed. Selflessness and love are synonymous. The seed is alone but when it dies it produces many others. Jesus died alone but his death caused life for a multitude of others. When we die to ourselves and to selfishness, we are doing what is best for others rather than ourselves and it produces love that grows beyond what we could imagine.

Lord, I don’t understand how a tiny grain can be planted in the ground, watered and spring up into life. That is a mystery that You hold in Your hand. I am amazed that a tiny grain can reproduce itself and multiply hundreds of times of itself. I am amazed how it takes in water and becomes vegetation and assumes a form and consistency completely different than itself. I am amazed that it can become something that releases indescribable aromas and tastes so pleasant and pleasing. The wisest man on earth could not explain how a tiny seed becomes nourishment for an animal and assimilates to the very nature of the body that receives it and becomes flesh and blood and nerves and bones. The truth is that I believe this mystery even though I don’t understand it. And I believe in Your death, burial and resurrection even though I cannot explain it or comprehend it and I thank You for the miracle of it all.

© LoveWalkPublishing 
Authored by RebeccaCooley

All Rights Reserved

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THE PROCESS OF LOVE

(Adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:5; John 12:23-24)

Verse :

The time has come for the Son of Man

To be glorified and exalted (repeat)

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies

It remains just one grain

It never becomes more,

It lives alone, by itself

But if it dies it produces many others

If it dies it yields a rich harvest

If it dies it produces many others

If it dies it yields a rich harvest

Chorus 1:

I yield my life to selflessness

I yield my life to the process

I yield my life to the process of love

Chorus 2:

Lord I die to myself

I live to you

Lord I die to selfish ambition

I live to You

I yield my life to the process of love

I yield my life to the process of love

© LoveWalkMusic
WordsAndMusic by KentCliffordCooley

All Rights Reserved

THE SEASONS OF OUR LIVES / It's Beginning To Feel Like Spring

This is the 2^nd of four devotions with the theme

From 1 Corinthians 13:5

"Love Is Not Self Seeking”

THE SEASONS OF OUR LIVES
by
Kent Cooley

(Adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:5; 15:55; Psalms 116:15; 126:6)

Spring has always been my favorite time of the year. It is a time when new life springs forth from the earth. As the seasons unfold and spring turns to summer, and summer turns to fall, and fall changes to winter, it is a cycle created by the Almighty. Winter fades and the cycle starts all over again with the new life of spring. Because of the contrasts of the seasons, the beauty of each season is manifested in wonderful distinctions.

Then, there are the seasons of our lives. We are born and go through the seasons of our lives from birth to the grave. Growing old and eventually dying is a result of the fall. However, isn’t it just like our God to grace our lives in this grand design as a wonderful thing?

Precious in the sight of the Lord 
is the death of his saints

And

O death, where is your sting? 
O grave, where is your victory?

When a believer dies the cycle of life here ends, and a new life begins in heaven. Heaven is an eternal youth where we will never grow old.

The very last time Billy Graham spoke at the Mall of our Nation’s Capital, he pointed to the memorials and he said, “All of these great men that are memorialized here at the Nation’s Capital mall have one thing in common. They are all dead. And you are going to die too. In order for you to be prepared to die, you need Christ.” Billy Graham would always use the death factor to bring people to the rude awakening of their need for Christ.

DEATH FORCES ME INTO SELFLESSNESS! Death says someday you will be gone and you will not be able to take anything with you except souls that you have won to Christ.

Father, The reality of death reminds me that I am going to lay it all down and leave it for someone else forcing me into selflessness. Death reminds me that I need you and I must invest in others to leave a legacy behind me. Give me souls for my hire and I will come before you one day rejoicing as I present them as the only items I could bring with me, before you, into heaven.

© LoveWalkPublishing

Authored by KentCliffordCooley

Edited by RebeccaAnnCooley

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Click here to view today's video on youtube

IT’S BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE SPRING

(Adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:5; 15:55; Psalms 116:15; 126:6)

Chorus:

It’s beginning to feel like spring,

Beginning to feel like spring

I hear a lot of preachin’ and singin’

About the coming of a king

I don’t wonder why and I don’t have to try,

It’s very clear to me

I can almost smell the heavenly flowers

And it’s beginning to feel like spring

Verse 1:

People are beginning to put their winter cloths away,

Their putting on the garments of praise

The birds don’t stay here when the winter time is near

Sometime your gonna find me gone

But while I’m here I’ll bid you come along

Verse 2:

My great grandma on her dyeing bed

Was still happy as we could see

And though she wasn’t well in body,

She was close to eternity

She said, “Son it’s the middle of December

O but that don’t matter to me

I just felt a warm breeze from heaven

And it’s beginning to feel like spring

© LoveWalkMusic

WordsAndMusic by KentCliffordCooley 

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TO PLEASE GOD, TO PLEASE MAN / What Jesus Did

This is the 5^th of 5 devotions with the theme

From 1 Corinthians 13:5

"Love Is Not Self Seeking”

(Adapted from Romans 15:2-3; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

“I am not a man pleaser but a God pleaser”

If we are not careful we can use this term to violate love. Jesus came primarily to please His Father and do His Father’s will. He laid His very life down to do the will of the Father. At Gethsemane He said “nevertheless not my will but Thine be done”. And so should we. Yet Paul addressed the church at Rome and stated;

Each one of us should make it a practice 
to please his neighbor

for his good and for his true welfare. 
For Christ did not please Himself.

Jesus was selfless in two areas 
1. He did not live to please himself but rather to please His father. 
2. He did not live to please himself but rather to please His neighbor. Let’s take a look at the definition of the word “please”, If you break down the word “please” into it’s synonyms and look for those words in scripture you will confirm over and over what Paul exhorted, “make it a practice to please your neighbor.”

Pleasure:

In thy presence is fullness of joy; 

at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. 
Ps 15:11

Satisfy:

If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, 

and satisfy the afflicted soul; 

then shall thy light rise in obscurity, 

and thy darkness be as the noon day: 
Isaiah 58:10

Delight:

And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east, 

in Eden [delight];(Eden means delight) 

The garden was meant to be a delight to man 
Gen 2:8

Father, I delight in You and I know that it is Your intention to please, bring pleasure to, satisfy and delight mankind and it should be our intention to please, bring pleasure to, satisfy and delight everyone we meet in a way that brings honor to You.

© LoveWalkPublishing

Devotion Authored by KentCliffordCooley
Edited by Rebecca Cooley

Click here to view today's video on youtube

WHAT JESUS DID

Devotion: To Please God / To Please Man

(Adapted from Romans 15:2-3; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

Verse 1

Do not live to please yourself

Live to please your neighbor.

This is love, This is selfless

This is righteous, This is what Jesus did

It was His constant practice

It was the way He lived

Verse 2

He did not live to please Himself

He lived to please his neighbor

He loved, He was selfless

He was righteous, 

This is what Jesus did

It was His constant practice

It was the way He lived

Verse 3

I do not live to please myself

I live to please my neighbor

I love, I am selfless, I am righteous

This is what Jesus did

This is my constant practice,

This is the way I live

© LoveWalkMusic

WordsAndMusic by KentCliffordCooley