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If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 Reading this familiar passage may make you remember a time when a preacher shared it during a marriage ceremony. But relegating this passage to love between a husband and wife does it a disservice. The love Paul speaks of is much greater and much deeper than romantic love—it represents the kind of love God has for his children. If we look at the life of Jesus and superimpose it over this passage, we see that Jesus personified every word. He was patient and kind. He didn’t envy. He emptied himself, humbling himself to the point of death on a cross. He didn’t follow his own desires, but instead followed the will of the Father, pouring himself out for all humankind. From the cross, Jesus bled forgiveness, even for the people crucifying him. He not only told the truth; he is the truth. As we look at how he shepherded his disciples, we see his love, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance. Put love into action Want to truly understand love? Look at Jesus. And then remember this: he loves you with an incredible love. Your response? Do the same with the people in your life. Think about your friends and family. Who demonstrates this passage well? What traits of love does he or she personify? How does that encourage you? Prayer Lord, thank you for showing me what love looks like as you walked the earth. With gratitude for your love for me, I want to show people that kind of sacrificial love. I can’t do it on my own, so please help me. Amen. Drawn from the NIV Radiant Virtues Bible.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. – Psalm 32:8 There is no language he will not speak. Which leads us to a delightful question. What language is he speaking to you? I’m not referring to an idiom or dialect but to the day-to-day drama of your life. God does speak, you know. He speaks to us in whatever language we will understand. There are times he speaks the “language of abundance.” Is your tummy full? Are your bills paid? Got a little jingle in your pocket? Don’t be so proud of what you have that you miss what you need to hear. Could it be you have much so you can give much? “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Is God talking in the “language of abundance”? Or are you hearing the “vernacular of want”? We’d rather he spoke the language of abundance, but he doesn’t always. Are you hearing the “language of need”? Or how about the “language of affliction”? Talk about an idiom we avoid. But you and I both know how clearly God speaks in hospital hallways and sickbeds. We know what David meant with the words, “He makes me lie down” (Psalm 23:2, emphasis added). Nothing seems to turn our ears toward heaven like a frail body. God speaks all languages—including yours. Has he not said, “I will instruct you . . . in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8)? Are we not urged to “accept instruction from his mouth” (Job 22:22)? What language is God speaking to you? And aren’t you glad he is speaking? Aren’t you grateful that he cares enough to talk? Isn’t it good to know that “the Lord confides in those who fear him” (Psalm 25:14)? Question: What language is God using to speak to you? What specific steps can you take in response? By Max Lucado from the NIV Lucado Encouraging Word Bible.

The “Back” of God God is present throughout the events of the exodus. But theophanies represent events of intensive presence that underline the principle that he is always present with his people and that he is faithful to his word and his covenant. After the incident with the golden calf (Exodus 32), Israel’s future appears to be in doubt. Moses requests that God show him his glory (Ex. 33:12–18). In this more intensive meeting, described in Exodus 34:5–28, The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex. 34:5–7) As is usual with theophany, the visual phenomena reinforce the significance of God’s speech. The divine appearance reveals the character of God, and so does the heart of God’s speech. God “proclaimed the name of the Lord” (v. 5). Before the theophany takes place, God also indicates its limitation: And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Ex. 33:19–23) What Did Moses Actually See? So what exactly did Moses see? Did he see a man-like appearance? Or is the language about “my back” a metaphor to indicate the less than-full nature of the revelation? Mystery remains. Did Moses see the back of a human figure or a vision like Ezekiel 1 or a bright cloud? Whatever the details, Moses saw a theophany of God, and yet one that was less than the fullest possible exposure to the presence of God. The allusion to human-like features builds on the fact that man was made in the image of God. And of course, along with all theophanies, this one also foreshadows the appearance of God in Christ, who is the permanent and climactic theophany. In him, and through his atonement, we can see God’s face and not die (John 14:9; Rev. 22:4). After this climactic experience with God, Moses’s face shone: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. (Ex. 34:29–30) An appearance of God may include brightness. The striking thing about Moses is that now the brightness of God’s appearance is reflected in Moses himself, who has seen God. This radiance from Moses anticipates the climax in Christ. Christ is “the radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:3). In a manner similar to Moses’s reflection of the glory of God, Christians who have communion with Christ are transformed so as to reflect the glory of Christ: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18) Theophanies represent events of intensive presence that underline the principle that he is always present with his people and that he is faithful to his word and his covenant. This article is adapted from Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing by Vern Poythress.

This is perhaps the most important question that you could ever ask. When we look at the Bible, we see that God describes Himself as Love (Exodus 34:6-7; see below). He is not just loving; He is the full embodiment, or the perfect standard, of love. Without God, we have no real reference of what love truly is. Our capacity to either receive or display love is directly and divinely tethered to who He is. This article serves one purpose: For you to catch even just a glimpse of the love of God. Here are two simple, yet profound realities that you need to know about God’s love. First, His love is personal God is not impersonal. He is not like the absent parent who occasionally checks in on you. He is not like the distant lawmaker who wants to control and oppress you. Honestly, He is better, kinder, and infinitely more gracious than anyone you’ve ever met – no analogy or simile to any human would ever do Him justice. With one glance of His eyes, your heart would melt into a molten mass of liquid love. With one word, your soul would be put to rest, knowing that you’re fully secure. With one embrace, you would forget every heartbreak, every bully, every hurtful word ever spoken about you – you would know that you are His, and He is yours. Now, let’s look at just a few examples of how personal God’s love is straight from His word, the Bible – His love letter to you. “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Exodus 34:6-7 (NIV) “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV) “I have loved you,” says the Lord…” Malachi 1:2 (NIV) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:12 (NIV) Yes, God loves the whole world, but He does so by loving you! He knows your name. He called out to you when you were in your mother’s womb. He celebrated when you took your first steps. God wants you to know that it was His love for you that sent Jesus to the cross. His love covers every sin that you’ve ever committed, and every sin you ever will. When you come to understand that for yourself, your gratitude can overwhelm your desire to sin. God loves you personally. Second, His love is unconditional This means that there is no condition you need to meet to be loved by Him. God doesn’t say, “I’ll love you if…”. Instead, He says, “even if you…I’ll still love you.” And if there’s no condition you need to meet to be loved by God, that means there is nothing you can ever do to lose His love. Let’s draw this home a little more: God loves men AND women God loves young AND old people God loves people of every race! Every skin color. God loves people who love him AND people who don’t Understand this: God loving you has never been about what you did or who you are; it’s about who He is. Honestly, we don’t deserve His love; we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard. But the GOOD NEWS is this: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NIV) God’s love is baffling. God’s love is wild. God’s love is holy. God’s love is pure. God’s love is beyond any human description. Today, fix your attention on what God is speaking to you through His love letter, the Bible. Let His love wash over you. Rest in Him, knowing that He personally and unconditionally loves you. By Chase McCartney, Social Media Marketing Coordinator for Biblica.

The Mosaic (Sinaitic) Covenant Abraham and his descendants had never been told in any detail when or how the promises to them of land, a great nation, numerous descendants and being a blessing to the whole earth would be fulfilled. The children of Israel could have easily surmised that God had forgotten them as they languished in Egypt for about 400 years. But God rescued them in Moses’ day and brought them to Mt Sinai. There, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law (Torah). Because of their disobedience afterward, they had to wander for 40 years in the wilderness, but God eventually brought them under Joshua to the edge of the promised land with a second giving and updating of the Law. The covenant with Moses was a conditional one, based on a sovereign-vassal treaty form developed in the second millennium BC, which the whole of Deuteronomy closely follows. Deuteronomy 28–29 rehearse in detail the stipulations and the rewards for the Israelites’ obedience to the Law and the punishments for their disobedience. Long life, prosperity, safety and freedom from foreign oppression would flow from keeping the Law. Disasters, tragedies, warfare, exile and foreign occupation would eventually come after repeated, flagrant disobedience. To be clear, the Mosaic covenant was about temporal prosperity not eternal salvation. God had already “saved” his people in the exodus – in the crossing of the Red Sea – and in bringing them to the promised land. However, the law detailed how they were to live out a life of pleasing God now that he had rescued them. Their success and failures is found in the rest of the historical books of the Old Testament which details the cycles of prosperity and punishment of the Israelite people based on their behavior. The Coming New Covenant “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:31–34 The prophet Jeremiah’s description of a new covenant demonstrates that the Mosaic covenant was never intended to be everlasting in its original form. The apostle Paul picks up on this as well in where he speaks of three purposes of the Law. 1. While it was in effect, it functioned in a custodial fashion acting as a deterrent to sin. (Galatians 3:21-4:7) 2. It also highlighted people’s sinfulness, showing them their need for one who could fully save them. (Romans 7:13–25) 3. For the Christian, the Law is fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 5:17–20). We understand how the coming of the Christ and the teaching of the New Testament have changed the application of each part of the Law. It still though functions as a moral guide for believers (Galatians 5:13-6:10). The New Covenant Fulfilled The old Mosaic covenant was doomed to failure because of congenital human inability to fulfill its requirements. But with incalculable mercy and love God resolved this fundamental relational problem by becoming a human being himself, through Jesus Christ, to do for human beings what they could not do for themselves: perfectly fulfill the relational demands of God’s covenant by his perfect obedience and pay the steep price for everyone else’s disobedience. All who put their faith in this God­man have these immeasurable benefits applied to them. The consequent divine­human relationship is now secure because, in essence, God is on both sides of the relationship—the divine originator of the covenant and the one who fulfills it. The prophet Jeremiah provides the essential details of the new covenant. He says it will not be like the old covenant in that the law would now be put in the minds and written on the hearts of God’s people. Consequently, there will be an intimate, personal knowledge of God shared by every segment of society. This new relationship with God is made possible because of his forgiveness of sins. The New Testament makes clear that all of these details of the new covenant find their fulfillment in Jesus (Luke 22:20). He makes possible a relationship with God in which believers have the law in their minds and on their hearts by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit who facilitates intimate fellowship with and personal knowledge of God (compare Romans 8:1–11; John 14:23) all possible because of the self­sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 10:11–18). Drawn from study material in the NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition.