Sunday is Near!

I received this devotional from a friend. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I think it appropriate to share it with you....just something to think about while you're drifting off to sleep tonight!

Pastor's Daily Devotional
FRIDAY! May 19, 2006
The weekend is just about here again. It's shaping up to be a great one weather-wise; perhaps a little warm. I pray you will be in the Lord's house this Sunday and every Sunday possible through the upcoming Summer months. We may need a vacation at times, but NOT a vacation from God or His house!
LOVE ONE ANOTHER - HOW?
Are there ever certain people in your life that you just really have a hard time liking, much less loving? I'm sure we all face some like that at one time or another. We are probably even that way to some folks! Yet Jesus has shown us that we need to love all folks. That's a tall order. There are some folks that are very different from us, have a personality that turns us the wrong way, or something that just doesn't set well with us. We are all different.
Face it; some folks really have some issues! But that doesn't mean God doesn't love them OR that we shouldn't love them either. We need to follow Jesus' example and show love to everyone we encounter. But how is that really possible? Let me share a couple of ideas with you today that might help.
First of all we are told by Him in numerous places to love each other. And perhaps the greatest commandment Jesus give in the New Testament to His disciples is to love one another as HE loved us. In John 13:34 and John 15:12 Jesus gives this powerful command to us as His followers. How did HE love us? He loved us so much that He laid down His life for us on the Cross. He loves sacrificially, selflessly, and unconditionally. Wow, that last one is particularly hard. It's tough to love others when they are unlovely to you. But that was His command.
I don't believe God will command us to do something and then not HELP us do it. If we really want to be His followers, we can ask Him to help us love as He loved us, and He will do it. He will never command us to do anything that is impossible, nor will He command us to do something that He won't help us and enable us to do.
Another thing that I believe Jesus does toward us that will help us love others is that He is able to separate the "sin from the sinner". He hates the sin but loves the sinner, and you should be super glad that is true! Why? Because unless He did, we'd all be headed for Hell. We need to follow His example. NEVER be guilty of saying you hate someone. Separate their actions from the person; hate what they DO but strive, with His help, to love the person. He loves them so much that He DIED for them; and the same is true for YOU. So every individual is worth loving and reaching out to with HIS love.
Remember also today that IF you call yourself a Christian, you are an example to a lost world around us. They are going to be watching your life to see how you react and respond to others. Jesus told His disciples at one point that others would know they were HIS by the LOVE they had for one another. In fact, it was in John 13:35, which is right after He said to love one another as HE had loved us, that He told them this fact about their love showing others that they were His disciples. So BE an example of His love to a world that is hungering to see what REAL love is all about. Strive to follow His example and love others, show compassion and concern genuinely, as He has done for us. IF we would do this one thing, folks would flock to the church like a moth to a flame, for this old world seldom sees that kind of love manifested anywhere. Think about it!
Blessings to you and yours today,
Bro. Jackie Stanfield (Papa Jack to some)
PastorFirst Baptist Church, Linden, Tx.