Looks Like Jesus (Part 4) | GO Look Like Jesus

September’s number 1 song is this month’s series of devotions: “Looks Like Jesus.” We saw last week how God's love is present in every believer. This week, let's talk about Godly relationships...

PART 4: GO Look Like Jesus

September 25th, 2022

We said it in part 1: “It’s Your Turn.” Over the last couple of weeks we’ve also talked about the love that God has put in us. Now it’s time to ACT ON IT. After all, love isn’t just something we say, it’s something we SHOW!

Think about what you can do to impact someone around you. What are some practical ways you can go and look like Jesus to people? We want to challenge you to get out and DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK. There are so many ways we can make a difference.

With the current economic struggles we are all feeling, financially blessing others can be huge. Maybe it’s something as simple as buying someone else’s meal. Perhaps you could pay for someone’s gas. It could be as small as buying a friend a cup of coffee. Maybe your church is facing a need that you could help with. Sow a seed and be a blessing.

Showing the love of Christ can be helping someone in need in your neighborhood or town. Is there someone who’s house could use some repairs? Get a group together and help! Maybe you have the skills to give someone that much needed wheelchair ramp. Maybe an appliance needs to be repaired. You could be the one to fix something that someone either can’t afford to fix or doesn’t know how.

Ultimately, it all goes back to SHARING THE GOSPEL. We want to challenge you to tell someone about Christ this week. Be a witness that does more than “live the life in front of them”… GET VOCAL! Ask God to open doors for you to share Jesus with someone. You never know what could happen. A soul could be added to the kingdom this week because of your willingness to share the Gospel.

That’s what looks like Jesus. He was all about going out among the people and doing kingdom work. That was His entire ministry! So don’t isolate yourself. Don’t shy away from the opportunities that God has waiting for you this week! Get out there and do something that LOOKS LIKE JESUS!

Starting in October, these devotions will be available once a month. We hope you’re enjoying reading them as much as we enjoy sharing them. Check on the first Sunday of each month and don’t forget to turn on notifications for this app so you can be notified when new devotions are added.

- BFA

Looks Like Jesus (Part 3) | A Love That Lasts

September’s number 1 song is this month’s series of devotions: “Looks Like Jesus.” We saw last week how God's love is present in every believer. This week, let's talk about Godly relationships...

PART 3: A Love That Lasts

September 18th, 2022

If you’ve seen the music video for “Looks Like Jesus” (above) then you’ve seen the married couple in the diner. In the second verse of the song, Jimmy Fortune says:

“Sitting in a diner where I saw a man with silver hair. Table for two, feeding his wife, like every night she just stairs. Says, ‘For 60 years this has been our place.’ He’s treating her like it’s their first date.”

The lyrics describe a man sitting with his wife who has dementia/Alzheimer’s. As touching as this is, the amazing part about this is the fact that the couple you see in the video are not actors. They are actually married. She actually has Alzheimer’s. They’ve been married for over 67 years!

What is the secret for a love like this? We’re reminded what scripture says about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8…

4: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5: It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7: It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8: Love never fails…

This kind of Godly love is what will sustain a relationship. If you are married, center your marriage around this kind of love that only comes from two people committed to God and each other. Read this passage together as a couple and commit yourselves to this kind of lasting love.

If you are not married yet, pray for God to teach you now what this love looks like. Ask Him to guide you in your search for that spouse and keep your focus on a Godly relationship. Not to revisit last week’s devotion, BUT: Don’t settle for a love that is defined by worldly standards. Lasting love is worth waiting for.

Let’s ask God to give us this kind of love for the people closest to us. A love that is patient and kind. A love that is selfless and truthful. A love that protects, hopes, trusts, and perseveres. A love that never fails. A love that lasts.

- BFA

Looks Like Jesus (Part 2) | Love Like God

September’s number 1 song is this month’s series of devotions: “Looks Like Jesus.” Last week, we read Christ's last words to His followers before He ascended in part 1: "It's Your Turn." This week, let's explore a passage in 1 John 4...

PART 2: Love Like God

September 11th, 2022

1 John 4:7-8

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

John writes that we should love each other because love comes from God. That means God is the originator, author, and creator of the supreme ethic of the universe: LOVE. Love transcends all wrong. Love forgives. Love corrects. Love is God and God is love. If we want to look Like Jesus to the world, it means we must love like God.

John also says that if you don’t love, you don’t know God. It could be said that if you don’t know God, you don’t know love. For a world that seems to be all about love, that’s quite a revelation. To the world, love is acceptance. Love is tolerance. Love is ignoring wrong doing. Love is pretending there is no such thing as sin. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A true, loving parent WILL want the best for their child. A parent will teach a child what is right and wrong. They will praise a child for doing well. They correct a child for doing wrong. This is love like God.

God looks upon man and genuinely wants the best for all of us. He is willing to affirm and correct with all of His infinite wisdom and justice. He loves us so much He gave His son to die. He loves us so much, He will offer correction when sin is present.

So to love like God, we must have the correct definition of love. Not what the world says it is, but what God says it is.

We must love the people of this world. We must look at them, not with hate, but with a burden to see their soul saved. We may hate what they do, AND WE SHOULD HATE SIN, but we must look upon them with the love that God has for them. A love that desires the best for them: SALVATION. We are the key to showing the world what true love is. Not some fake Hollywood love. Not some twisted idea of love that the world adopts. True, Godly love. That’s the kind of love that He gave us when He saved us. That’s the kind of love the world needs to see in us. That’s the kind of love the world needs from us. Love like God.

- BFA