Pure Love

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning the 8th of October 2022, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” 
John 3:16

That scripture verse is saturated by one word and one word only, love - the most powerful thing on earth.  

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4:7

You shall know them by the fruits of the Spirit, and the first one is love! John Wesley said, 

“Beware you are not swallowed up in books. An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge." 

Isn’t that beautiful and so true? John Wesley had an MA, a Master of Arts in Theology from Oxford University, and he said an ounce of love is worth more than half a kilo of knowledge. 

“Cowboys don’t cry?” What a lot of rubbish! I am a cowboy and I cry more now than I have ever cried in my life. You know, my dear old dad, he was a tough man, I keep telling you that. He was the strongest man I have ever known. He was a blacksmith and used a 14-pound hammer like you and I use a hammer. He loved me very much, I know that, but he didn’t know how to express his love sometimes, but when he met the Man from Galilee, Jesus Christ, he knew how to take me in his arms, hug me and love me.

I just love it at Mighty Men Conferences when I see big strong grown men hugging their sons. It brings tears to my eyes. Pure love teaches us to say sorry, even when it's not our fault, that is love. You will never lead a soul to Christ through an argument. We can agree to disagree on certain issues but never at the cost of losing a friend. Now I am not talking about compromising your stand, of course not, I am talking about pure love. 

Do you remember a song that was illustrated by a video of the First World War with young German and British soldiers, some of them 18 years old, who were conscripted to fight for their country? They were in trenches that had water up to their knees. It was freezing cold in the middle of winter and they were shooting and killing each other. The cream of the British and the Germans were destroyed in the First World War. Then, Christmas night arrived and one of those soldiers started singing, “Silent Night”. The shooting stopped and they got out of their trenches, they walked across to one another, sat down and spoke to each other and they loved each other - and then, of course, they had to go back to their trenches. It brings a tear to my eye, to be honest with you.

Love one another! It will move mountains and it will build friendships.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, 
Goodbye.