This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: 
https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Faith, hope, and love remain.
(1 Corinthians 13:13)

First Corinthians 12 talks about spiritual gifts, which are distributed by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4). One Christian may receive one type of gift while another receives a different gift. Chapter 13 goes one step further and mentions the three gifts that are common for all Christians: faith, hope, and love. Verse 13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

In stating that faith, hope, and love remain, Paul does something interesting and unexpected: he uses a singular verb for a compound (and therefore plural) subject. His statement in 1 Corinthians 13:13 could be literally rendered “faith, hope, and love remains.” Paul’s point is that, essentially, faith, hope, and love are united; what happens to one happens to all. And what happens is that they “remain.”

The fact that faith, hope, and love remain must be understood in light of the broader context. Paul had just listed another set of three gifts that would not remain: “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 13:8). So, the passage contains a contrast: three gifts of the Spirit that will cease, and three gifts that will never end. Faith, hope, and love will always remain.

The Corinthian church members were priding themselves on the fact that they could speak in tongues and demonstrate other attention-getting gifts. Paul reminds them of “the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31)—the way of love. The gifts that the Corinthians so desired were but temporary; faith, hope, and love, the foundational gifts, are permanent and therefore more to be desired.

Faith, hope, and love are gifts in the present age, and they will still be gifts in the age to come. The NLT translates the promise this way: “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love.” It’s easy to see how love will last forever, since love is an essential part of God’s nature (1 John 4:16). But what about faith and hope? Those two gifts will likewise last forever. Faith in the Son of God will not cease in the eternal state; we will not stop trusting Jesus just because our faith has become sight. If anything, our trust in Him will grow greater. Similarly, our hope will not cease just because our blessed hope has come. Our lives will continue in the eternal state, as will our expectation of other things in an infinite sequence of adventure.

Faith, hope, and love are the three gifts that will be ours throughout all eternity. And agape love is the ultimate gift. God in His goodness gives us the privilege of possessing these gifts today, and we look forward to having them remain with us forever.

The greatest of these is love.

First Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” This comes just after Paul’s eloquent and famous description of what true love—agape love—is. There are several ways in which love can be said to be the greatest.

First Corinthians 13:13 lists love along with faith and hope as a gift that lasts forever. The lasting nature of faith, hope, and love make them greater than all other gifts of the Spirit; the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:8 as coming to an end. Of the three “forever gifts,” love is the greatest.

Love is greater than faith and hope in that both faith and hope depend on love for their existence. Without love, there can be no true faith; a loveless faith is nothing but an empty religious exercise. As Paul says, “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Without love, there can be no genuine hope; a loveless hope is an oxymoron, because we can’t truly hope for something that we do not love. Faith and hope are dead, sterile things if not accompanied by love.

One of the reasons that love is the greatest gift is that it is inherent in God’s nature. First John 4:8 tells us that God is love. The book of John and John’s three letters are replete with the theme of love. God gives us His love, and we reflect that love back to Him: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 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. . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:9–17). Here we see that love is something that has always existed among the persons of the Trinity. Love has no beginning and does not end. And this is the love into which we are invited. Jesus desired for future believers to be part of His love as well: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:26).

Jesus taught that the greatest two commandments both include love, the greatest gift: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37–40).

John Calvin puts forward a very simple reason why love is the greatest gift: “Because faith and hope are our own: love is diffused among others.” In other words, faith and hope benefit the possessor, but love always benefits another. In John 13:34–35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love always requires an “other” as an object; love cannot remain within itself, and that is part of what makes love the greatest gift.

Love is core to God’s character and central to the Christian life. The law of Christ is to love God and love others. Love infuses all that God does and should infuse all that we do. “Love never fails ” (1 Corinthians 13:8), and it will never cease. Because of this, love is greater than even hope and faith.

Agápē Love

The Greek word agápē is often translated “love” in the New Testament. How is “agape love” different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is goodwill, benevolence, and willful delight in the object of love. Unlike our English word love, agape is not used in the New Testament to refer to romantic love. Nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love. Agape love involves faithfulness, commitment, and an act of the will. It is distinguished from the other types of love by its lofty moral nature and strong character. 

Agape love does not come naturally to us. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love. If we are to love as God loves, that love—that agape—can only come from its Source. This is the love that “has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” when we became His children (Romans 5:5; cf. Galatians 5:22). “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). Because of God’s love toward us, we are able to love one another.

Remember, “nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) And,