Category: Lovestruck

John 15:12-13 – “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

We treasure Jesus by joining Him the joy of Real love.

When we treasure Jesus, whose love and glory is so beyond our ability to contain Him, He is going to burst through our seams and overflow with His wonderful love, joy, and hope to those around us. Our delight and excitement in Jesus will burst wide open with His ways in us. His glory and greatness, and His joy for the world can’t be contained when it is so treasured and enjoyed to the max in us.

This joy is a vacuum into God’s love and delight for those who we get to be with or work with. And this is ultimately because God’s incredible love in Jesus has pulled us into His joy and abundant grace. Remember, “Christ is most magnified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” (John Piper).

Treasuring Jesus in real love is the grace of God and privilege of revealing and glorifying Him – making much of Him in our overflowing joy that loves by gladly seeking the hearts and needs of others. Treasure Jesus today by joyfully joining Him in really loving others. Let’s pray, asking for this abundant delight that joyfully overflows in loving others. And let’s also sing to “Rooftops” by Jesus Culture.

– TR

Hebrews 12:1b-3 – “…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

We treasure Jesus in the midst of hardship or sorrow by conSidering the magnitude of what He has done for the things we may go through, including our sin and shame. 

Helping the church put their difficulties and sufferings in proper perspective the author does not tell them, “to ‘consider’ Christ’s sufferings but to ‘consider’ Christ himself who has suffered. Thus, this verse emphasizes the magnitude of his sufferings and the finality and continuing validity of his triumph in order to magnify him.

“…They are to ‘consider’ Christ as the one who has been fitted by successful endurance of the worst to sustain them in whatever they face…They should come to the full realization of who he is. It is because he is one who has overcome that they need not ‘become weary, giving up in their very souls.’” [G. Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews]

Let’s pray bringing all that has wearied and burdened our hearts into the greatness of all that Jesus has done, putting our trust in Him. Treasure Him for what He has done, especially within the midst of what is hard. Let’s sing to, “Peace Be Still” led by The Belonging Co.

– TR

Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

We treasure Jesus by the Renewing of our thoughts and thinking about this life. How we think about life determines how we will live life…moment by moment, decision by decision.

Philippians 1:21 says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

“…Paul’s point is that life and death, for a Christian, are acts of worship—they exalt Christ and magnify Him and reveal and express His greatness—when they come from an inner experience of treasuring Christ as gain. Christ is praised in death by being prized above life. And Christ is most glorified in life when we are most satisfied in Him even before death.

“The common denominator between living and dying is that Christ is the all-satisfying treasure that we embrace whether we live or die. Christ is praised by being prized. He is magnified as a glorious treasure when He becomes our unrivaled pleasure. So if we are going to praise Him and magnify Him, we dare not be indifferent as to whether we prize Him and find pleasure in Him. If Christ’s honor is our passion, the pursuit of pleasure in Him is our duty.” [John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight]

Let’s pray and ask the Lord to fill our lives with passion to honor Jesus and pursue our pleasure in Him. Treasure Jesus in all your thoughts today. Let’s sing to, “How He Loves” led by Passion, ft. D. Crowder.

– TR

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 – “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.”– George Mueller, the great prayer warrior and lover of orphans.

We treasure Jesus by experiencing the Transforming grace of contemplating Him. Salvation is the reality of ‘contemplating’ or ‘treasuring’ Jesus. It is the invitation to gaze and enjoy the Lord by being in His presence and enjoying His grace and mercy toward us. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 proclaims, in this ongoing experience we are changed and we become more and more like the One we treasure…Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will make this the most profound and deepest of all experiences. Loving Jesus is treasuring Him, pursuing Him, enjoying Him, and really knowing Him. Treasuring Jesus is making much of Him and the wonders of His love for us. That is our reality and life.

Let’s thank the Lord today and praise Him…‘contemplate’ and make much of Him in your heart. And let’s worship to,  “Worthy is the Lamb” led by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

– TR

Matthew 13:44 – The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“All of life is a seeking after value. Sometimes we find value fortuitously and sometimes with great effort, but often our sense of value is skewed. We need to aim higher. Our relation with God is the most important part of life. All our other pursuits are trivial by comparison. More specifically, understanding what God has done in Christ and following Christ are more valuable than all else we possess or seek…The gospel we proclaim must deserve and explain the label ‘treasure,’ and our lives must express the ultimate value found in Christ.” [Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 247]

Here in this passage the treasure is likened to the kingdom of heaven. And this kingdom is simply the reality of being in the presence and in relationship with the King – King Jesus. Therefore the implications are this, our faith means not only believing a truth about Jesus, but finding a treasure. Loving Jesus is treasuring Him and setting our hearts on discovering more and more of who He truly is. As we begin our week let’s set our hearts on finding all that Jesus has for us. Let’s pray that we will treasure Him in all that we seek and sacrifice.

Let’s also worship to the song, “Fullness“ by Elevation Worship.

– TR