Author: Steven Bolden

A good friend of mine throws a themed party every year as a charity event.  This past year, I received the invitation and read “attire is jeans & boots, RSVP”.  At the time I didn’t have any boots and I wasn’t willing to shell out a few hundred dollars on some dingos for one night!  Well, I didn’t respond and I missed out!  They had all my favorite food, friends showed up that I haven’t  seen in years, and I missed out on my favorite cigars which he special ordered for this event!

Luke 1: 31-38 NLT

³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.³³ And he will reign over Israel^[a] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.^[b]”

³⁸ Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant and I am willing to accept whatever he wants.  May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

So, God is telling Mary through his angel…Forget the “culturally acceptable” plans for your life that you have. Married as a virgin, conceiving your husbands child, white picket fence blah blah blah.  I want you to carry my son while you are engaged, risk losing your fiance, and live a life on the road protecting my son.  Her response…let’s do it!  Through her willingness to obey God a mighty work was set into action!

When God calls us to do something, how often do we say “I ain’t buy those boots” and miss out on the blessing?  We want God to do a mighty work in us and through us but the earthly cost is too great and we don’t respond…and miss the party!

Tonight I made my twelve year old daughter her favorite meal.  After the meal I gave her a hug and told her that I loved her…silence on her end.  After my wife prompted her to say something she responded “thank you?!” and walked away to do the dishes. Wow.  “I love you…ok, thanks”.  How do I respond to that?  How should I feel after that?

Taken from Acts3.org (http://www.acts3.org/lessons/peter.htm)

John 21:15-17

15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”

16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”

17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

Reading in modern English, you may not get much out of it. However, if you look at the passage in the original Greek, it does make a difference. Basically, there are two different words translated as ‘LOVE‘ in this passage. I am simply going to put the two original Greek words in place of the English words in the same 3 verses above. Notice the changes below:

15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you agapao Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I phileo You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”

16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you agapao Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I phileo You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”

17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you phileo Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I phileo You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

If you look closely, you will see that there have been two Greek Words inserted for the Word “Love” in the verses above. The two words are agapao and phileo. Now let us look at the Greek definitions of these two words:

Agapao – This is a very special and deep kind of love. It means to love dearly.

Phileo– This is a friendly kind of affection. In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance it states the difference between agapao and phileo is that agapao is more of a heart love and phileo is more of a head love.

Now read the verses again. You will see:

1. Jesus asks Peter, “Do you LOVE me more than these?” Peter says, ‘yeah I like you Lord.’

2. The second time, Jesus simply asks, “Do you LOVE me?” Notice that Jesus lessens the level of love. Sigh… Peter still cowers and only responds… ‘yeah I like you Lord.’

3. Finally, Jesus asks, ‘Peter…do you like me?’ And Peter agrees.

 How many times has God asked me “Steven, do you love me?” and my response has been “Yeah, I like you.” by failing to reach out when others are in need?  By holding back when He is prompting me to speak to someone about Him? By holding on to my blessings when I should be blessing others with them?  God tells me He loves me so much that He sacrificed His son so I may live with Him for eternity and any response short of total and complete obedience is saying back to Him “ok, thanks…”

I Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing;

What does that mean? The only thing I do without ceasing is breathing. My wife would argue it is whining but this is my blog so breathing it is! Could it be that prayer is much more than the verbal or silent petitions we routinely perform? If I were to stop breathing I would die. Breathing causes me to be. No matter what activity I undertake it is a functional continuance of my breathing.

If I pray that God gives me a heart for those in need and I am approached by a person on the street and asked if I can spare some money and I give them some, is that not praying? If you are praying for God’s will to be done and you are living out the Gospel is that not a continuance of your prayer? How different this world would be, how different our lives would be if we truly obeyed this command.

Wow, wow, wow…blending families are no joke! My wife figured it was time for my stepdaughters to stop calling me Mr. Steven and to come up with a different name. So she asked one of her daughters to come up with another name to call me. Her response was…yes you guest it “I don’t know?!”  That response kind of woke me up.  To me the response “I don’t know” either means you truly don’t know or you don’t really care enough to give it any further thought.  In either case, on a deeper level it means I haven’t put a strong enough impression on her life to incite her to call me anything other than Mr. Steven.

Contrast that with Jesus. Listen to this song on youtube: Bread of Heaven

Bread of Life
Sent down from Glory
Many things you were on earth
A holy King, a carpenter
Cause you are the Living Word

Awesome ruler
Gentle redeemer
God with us, the Living Truth
And what a friend I have in You
you are the Living Word

And when I put it all together I call you JESUS!

You see it’s what Jesus did for me that causes me to call him Bread of Heaven, Gentle Redeemer, the Living Word! It’s not because I am told to but because He is those things to me!  I should be the minister of my house, the shepherd of my little sheep, a sweet and loving father…not “I don’t know”.  I’ve got some work to do!