Happy Valentine's Day!

¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹²We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Courtesy of Biblegateway.com

A Genuine Lightbulb Moment...

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." ~~~1 John 4:8 (NIV)

The Bible tells us God is love. The Bible also tells us that love is patient. Doesn't it stand to reason, therefore, that God is patient? Of course! With this thought in mind, I believe that when the Apostle Paul wrote 1st Corinthians 13, he was not attempting to give us a definition of Love; rather, he was in fact giving us an inspired description of God Himself!

The following is my paraphrase of that most famous passage of Scripture, inserting God in the place of the word love. Brace yourself — this is a genuine lightbulb moment. You are about to see what God is really like.

"God is always patient; He waits, and waits, and waits; and does not grow anxious or hurried. God is always gracious and kind. Always. God does not behave indecently, or inappropriately. There is nothing He would ever say or do, that would intentionally embarrass or humiliate us. Never.

God is never envious, insolent, or rude. He is not sarcastic in His speech, cutting in His wit, nor condemning in His tone. God is not puffed up, nor conceited. He does not cherish inflated ideas of His own importance. He does not walk about heaven staring at Himself in mirrors.

God does not behave in an unseemly manner in any situation, or towards anybody. He is never vulgar nor haughty. God does not pursue His own things; He does not seek, nor demand His own way. God is not irritable or touchy. He is not easily annoyed, nor quickly provoked. He is not resentful. God hardly notices when He is wronged, and doesn't even take it much into account when it occurs. He certainly does not keep a personal record of petty offenses; a scorecard of all the times others have tried to tick Him off.

God does not impute evil on anybody. He doesn't even think evil; such things do not enter His mind. God is never glad with sin, but always glad to side with truth. He is never glad about injustice of any kind, and He sings the loudest whenever the truth wins.

God quietly covers all things that could otherwise bring shame and dishonor to your life, and He graciously bears you up under everything that tries to put you down. God believes the best about you at all times and in all things, and He will never give up on you. Never.

His hope is unlimited, His love is unfailing, His commitment is unflagging, and His power is unending — no matter what the circumstances of your life may be, you will find Him there at your side...and on your side.

He will always stand His ground defending you, no matter what it cost Him. Dear friend, God loves you. He not only loves you in what you are facing, but He will also love you through it. And in the end, you will love Him for it." (from I Corinthians 13:4-6)

Do you hear that popping sound? It's light bulbs going on all around the world!

Culled from James Ryle’s Daily Devotion.

LOL~~~ And may our homes be filled with the love of God, always!♬ ♩☆♬ ♩♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?", they asked.

"No", she replied. "He's out."

"Then we cannot come in", they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened.
"Go tell them I am home and invite them in!"
The woman went out and invited the men in"

"We do not go into a House together," they replied.

"Why is that?" she asked.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?"

Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Let us heed our daughter's advice," said the husband to his wife.
"Go out and invite Love to be our guest."
The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?"

The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!!!"

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." ~ (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV)~~~May our homes be filled with the love of God, always!

The Beauty of Math!

You may have seen this before, but take another look:

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

987654321 x 9 - 1 = 8888888888

9876543210 x 9 - 2 = 88888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?
And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=123456789 87654321

Now, take a look at this...


101%

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:


What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give
MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are
giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone
wants you to GIVE OVER
100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%


What equals 100% in life?


Here's a little mathematical formula that might
help answer these
questions:


If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X
Y Z


Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26.


If:


H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K

8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%


And:

K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E

11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%


But:

A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E

1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%


THEN, look how far the love of God will take
you:



L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%



Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical
certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you
close, and Attitude will
get you there, It's the Love of God that will
put you over the top!

This Love of God is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Do you have Christ in your life?

Today, you can receive Jesus Christ and His salvation if you believe, by simply and sincerely saying a prayer like this:

"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you to come into my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to experience your Love and to serve you always."

If you have just prayed this prayer or you have any questions about what you have just read please feel free to contact us on houseofvirtue@gmail.com