WELCOME TO GRACE
  • Stay Updated
    • Events
    • Resources/GCC Bulletin
    • School of Ministry
    • Ministries
    • Our Missionaries
    • Meet the Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Pastor Joe
    • Joe's Testimony
    • Pastor's Pen
    • Need Prayer?
  • About
  • Watch & Listen
  • Word of Grace Radio

1 John 3:13 "Lay it Down!" by Pastor Joe Marquez on this weeks Word of Grace Devotion.

12/5/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
​The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of December 3, 2018
Lay it down!
1 John 3:16, "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." ESV
Beloved, 1 John 3:16 is not to be confused with John 3:16 though they share a very similar passage- that of the laying down of a life for another. In addition, John 15:13 shares this message stating, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
So how do we lay down our lives for the brothers and others? First of all we need to look to Christ’s example. 1 John 3:16 says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.” When Christ laid down His life for our life He gave us an example of pure agape love. His love is a love that is not based on our reciprocal action but rather on total selflessness. Agape love is unconditional!
Hence, we practice genuine agape love by laying down our lives and our self-will, which we love in this world – for our brothers and others. We need to have an attitude of selflessness and obedience to the Father.
So what is agape love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 says, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, keeps no accounts of evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.”
Therefore, we lay down our lives for our brothers and others by being patient, kind, not envious, not boastful or puffed up and not rude. In a sense- we die to ourselves and allow the love, which God has poured into our hearts to flow out into the lives of others. My prayer for each of is that we would practice unconditional love by laying down our lives for others. Certainly, we live in a time that desperately needs the Love of Christ!
I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you!
 
In Christ-
Pastor Joe
0 Comments

    Pastor's Pen

    Picture

    Senior Pastor
    Joe Marquez 

    Beloved, we are soon to once again celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the human Son of man and the divine Son of God. He is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent God.
     
    While there were many people instrumental in the birth of Christ, this morning we will look at His birth through the eyes of Joseph, His legal father. There is not too much known about the man who would care for Christ as He grew up. We know that Joseph was possibly a carpenter but most importantly we know that he was a righteous man who did the right thing.
     
    When others would have ran away from a responsibility that was not even their own, Joseph stood steadfast and remained faithful to the end. We can learn much from his character and apply his attributes of faithfulness, purity, and perseverance to our own lives.
     
    May you have a Blessed Christmas week and may Christ always be at the center of your lives!
     
    P.S. Come back this evening as we look at the birth of Christ through the Gospel of Luke!

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Grace Calvary Chapel
    Pastor Joe Marquez
    Weekly Devotion

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Stay Updated
    • Events
    • Resources/GCC Bulletin
    • School of Ministry
    • Ministries
    • Our Missionaries
    • Meet the Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Pastor Joe
    • Joe's Testimony
    • Pastor's Pen
    • Need Prayer?
  • About
  • Watch & Listen
  • Word of Grace Radio