Tag: love Page 1 of 2

YouTube Welcome!

On March 23, 2023

Welcome to my new YouTube channel! After 20 years of full-time ministry as a Worship Pastor, Music Minister, and Worship Leader, I am starting a new social media ministry on Youtube. This video welcomes visitors and invites them to become part of this community of believers. I would be thrilled to have you join us as we embark on this exciting journey of sharing uplifting, inspiring music and messages.

As a Christian musician, I have a passion for creating music that speaks to the heart, uplifts the soul, and celebrates the love and grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Whether you are a lifelong Christian or just beginning to explore the faith, I believe this channel is for you.

Here, you will find a variety of musical styles, from contemporary worship to gospel to traditional hymns, all with a fresh and modern twist. The music draws from a wide range of influences, including pop, rock, country, bluegrass, soul, and R&B.

But this channel is not just about music. I also share my personal journey of faith, my struggles and triumphs, and my insights into what it has meant to live a life devoted to Christ. I hope that the music and words will inspire and encourage you to draw closer to God.

So, whether you are here for the music or the message, I am excited to have you join us. Please subscribe to this channel and be the first to know when new content drops. Thank you for considering being part of this community. I look forward to growing together in faith and in music with you.

Sing To Jesus Always

By Marshall Mabry

On March 10, 2023

In Praise and Worship

Can a song sing the Name of “Jesus” too much? I believe it’s the song we need to sing every day of our lives. What is this life compared to the eternal life we have because of Jesus? 80 years? 120 years? In the scope of eternity, it’s just a brief moment. Let us always sing to Jesus with all our strength and with thanksgiving in our hearts, minds, and souls.

Nehemiah 10 – “Nehemiah said, Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Psalm 118:14 – “The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.”

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Does God Hate?

By Marshall Mabry

On August 15, 2018

In Praise and Worship

Does God hate? Yes.
But can we truly define the context of that “hate?” This is just as difficult a question as the one we believe is easy; Does God love? Yes!

The most important thing to remember is that God is God, we are not. (Exodus 20:2) He is the God of justice. (Luke 18:7) He has mercy on who He wants to have mercy. (Romans 9:15) His way is higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:9) He is holy and righteous. (Psalm 145:17) It will take “Eternal Life” to know the One, True God. (John 17:3) To know God’s hatred and to know the length, breadth and height of His love will take an eternity. (Ephesians 3:18) As Job and David concur sometimes “we speak of things too wonderful for us to understand.” (Job 42:3, Psalm 139:6) We simply need to remain joyous, thankful and prayerful in our current faith (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) and allow the Holy Spirit to direct our revelations and growth in the Truth.

In Psalm 139:21-22 David states “O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.”

From my understanding of this Psalm, I believe David is repenting. He knows God knows him. David acknowledges God’s supreme sovereignty over all creation and his life. He asked God to search him for offensive ways so he can have victory over his ungodliness and lead him in God’s way. I believe his reference to God’s hatred was a test against his own self-righteousness.

I believe knowing just a tidbit of God’s hatred would spiritually overwhelm us in our present state, just as Moses could not look fully upon the face of God. It is much better for us to seek the knowledge of His love for it is the present, real glimpse we have of eternity.

I leave you with this great quote by George Horne taken from “Treasury of the Psalms.”

“A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies, with his Master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and maintain. A good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their sins; not what God made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the men on account of the vices they practise, nor love the vices for the sake of the men who practise them. He who observes invariably this distinction, fulfils the perfect law of charity, and hath the love of God and of his neighbour abiding in him.” — George Horne.

Prayer
Lord Jesus! Help us to examine ourselves daily, so that we may deny the stuff that keeps us from wholeheartedly following You. There is so much hatred in this world – help us to be the love and kindness, the peace and joy, the salt and light You called us to be. May it honor You, glorify You and testify to Your power in this world! Amen

Jesus Commandments

By Marshall Mabry

On November 16, 2017

In Praise and Worship

15 The command “Do not judge.”
Matthew 7:1-5 (NLT)
1 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

We cannot wonder about how God will judge us when we stand before him on that awesome day. We already know. Our own standards are the measure. Every Christian’s pitfall is pride. Many times our need to be right, rather than “doing what’s right” is our “undoing.” When I am tempted to judge, I always try to remember the attributes of love as defined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV):
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.

If I cannot respond to my neighbor within the perimeters of all these truthful characteristics of love, I have missed the mark and I have embarrassed my Lord’s name.

In our ignorance and evil, Jesus asked for our forgiveness from the Cross. He loved us to death. His standard is a simple choice – believe in Him.

Jesus Commandments

By Marshall Mabry

On September 21, 2017

In Praise and Worship

9. The Command “Do not take revenge.”

38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. Matthew 5:38 (NLT)

Many times when we have been injured our immediate attitude and response seeks justice. But, at what cost? Jesus is commanding us here to change our hearts from the bitterness of revenge to the kindness of charity. We live in a broken world. We will reap what we sow. There is no escaping the repercussions of sin. Sooner or later bewildering calamity will happen. How will you respond to a slap in the face? An unexpected law suit? Or forced, unwarranted labor?

Jesus’s command is simple! Return kindness for evil, extraordinary giving for theft, and love for injury. There is only one Judge and it’s not us. He will righteously settle all unresolved accounts. And the payment for these debts is terrible and eternal. Shouldn’t we be showing mercy and love in our injury? We know that unless our debtors receive Christ as their Savior, their eternal souls are bound for Hell. They may stimulate their pride at the expense of our sore cheek. They may gain a little more wardrobe material. They may live a little longer at the expense of our hard labor. But Jesus says this in Matthew 16:26 “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (NLT)

Christ was slapped in the face, beard-pulled, humiliated, and forced to wear a crown of thorns, disrobed and publically beaten (scourged), burdened to carry the instrument of his demise to the site of his execution, then crucified, naked, laid bare for all to see – and he sought no revenge. He prayed for his debtors’ forgiveness.

Jesus Commandments

By Marshall Mabry

On July 18, 2017

In Praise and Worship

1. The Command to “Repent”
“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17)

We all must repent to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. In our Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9), Jesus teaches us that our deepest prayer need is for us to change. Repentance in the starting point of that journey. We need to stop praising ourselves and know that our Heavenly Father is holy. We need to get down from our thrones and put Jesus in His rightful place in our lives. We need to forget our selfish agendas and schedules, be emptied of self, so that God’s will can be done in and through us.

In Galatians 5, Paul says we cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, if we do not live by the Holy Spirit’s power to lead and guide our actions. Pastor Rick Warren said this about our choices in life, “we either do God things or selfish things.” We live in a “sin-broken” world. We are affected by it everyday. We must surrender “our will” to allow the Holy Spirit to empower our lives. In King David’s awesome testimony of repentance he cries “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:17) We must repent to love Jesus.

For the Love of Jesus: A Study into the Commandments of Jesus Christ

By Marshall Mabry

On June 30, 2017

In Praise and Worship

Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus left his disciples with this final commandment. We call it the “Great Commission.”, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-2, NLT) Jesus said Go! Make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them “His commandments.”

Starting with the Book of Matthew, it is written that after Jesus commanded John to baptize Him, he was led into the dessert. From His temptations we learned that Jesus proclaimed “God is our provider. He is Holy and He is sovereign over all.” One could argue that Christ’s responses to Satan’s temptations in the dessert were His commandments. In my generalized summary of Christ’s responses, I believe Christ’s first response was “to live by faith in God.” His second response was “to trust in God’s word.” And His last response was “to worship God alone.” We are tempted in in the same way as Christ. There is no temptation we can not overcome, if we know His word. When Jesus returned from the desert He began His ministry and declared the favor of the Lord and His words are the food by which all Christians truly live and worship. I believe the most important of all His commands was given in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” I believe if we all could just get our heads around that one, God’s Kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Keeping the commands of Jesus begins with recognizing and knowing them. The following are a collection of Jesus’ commands (taken directly from the Bible’s “Red Letters”, various translations) are presented, as best as I can manage, in New Testament order. My main goal is to help you along your worship journey with Christ. As you read through Christ’s quoted commandments, pray for God to help you understand, observe and obey them throughout your life.

God’s Loves Us Forever and Then More

By Marshall Mabry

On October 16, 2016

In Praise and Worship

O’ to know the length, breadth , height, and depth of God’s love! It is infinite, not temporal. It can not be restrained by the confines of our concepts of time and space. God loves us more than the circumstances of the present and the accumulation of our limited lifetimes. God loves us eternally. He loves us from the beginning of His creation. He loves us now and He loves us in eternity – for His glory! He loves us forever and then more!

God Loves a Cheerful Giver

By Marshall Mabry

On November 19, 2013

In Praise and Worship

“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NLT)

We should make giving the highest priority in our life. Everyone in our lives deserve the example of a cheerful giver. Jesus said we are more blessed when we give than when we received. In Malachi (3:10), our Heavenly Father challenges us to test the boundaries of His blessings on the basis of our faithful giving. His example of giving is the Cornerstone of our faith. He loved us so much “He gave!” It cost Him, His most precious possession — the life of His son.

We all have needs to survive in this world. However, our perception of need is not God’s. Trapped in time, we can not see beyond the vail of this moment. Trapped in our world, we can not experience the true freedom of endless space and dimensions. We can only know the truth in our presence. For example, you may be at Dairy Queen enjoying (praising God for) your favorite desert. Yet, somewhere else, an anxiously, expectant mother is giving birth to love. Still, somewhere else, a lonely, dying old man lays in silence and regrets all the God opportunities he missed in his life. “We can only know the truth in our presence.” We can only imagine — anything and anywhere else!

This life is not as important as Eternal Life. — It must be completely surrendered to God. (Eternal life is the pursuit of the knowledge of His endless love.)
Your physical health in the present is not as vital as the health of your eternal soul. — “Gouge out the sinning eye, cut off the sinning hand.” (Your eternal soul’s health is based on the richness of God’s love that you send it from the “here and now.”)
Your material possessions have no value in heaven. — If you believe yourself to be wealthy, Jesus said to give all your possessions away to the poor and follow after Him. (Follow after God’s love! Be wealthy in His love, then you will have treasure in heaven.)
Your relationships in this world are meaningless, unless you have given God’s love away. — It’s why we have life!

You can give all your precious, physical posessions away to the poor, but without love — it’s meaningless. Your life is required. The love in your life is what God wants you to give away – because it’s Him! This world desperately needs Him.

Find love, grab love, catch love, receive love, seek love, fill your life with the abundance of His love. But, don’t just hold on to it! Share it and give it away. Not only will you bless others and our world, but God will return it to you “pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing.”

Mercy and Grace

By Marshall Mabry

On July 25, 2013

In Praise and Worship

Definition of grace

We have life because of God’s mercy. We have eternal life because of His grace.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV) 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

John 3:16 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We journey through life on borrowed time. God in His great faithfulness and unfailing love renews His mercy with each morning. He chose us from the beginning to have life. It is His gift to us. It is a gift for us to invest and multiply. But as with all things, our lives and everything we know and experience are His — everything. He is good, compassionate, and a giving God. He does not withhold His goodness from the ones He loves. The only thing He does not claim is our bad choices. We must take ownership of our sin. But even still, His unfailing love made a way for us. In His great mercy and love for us, God sacrifices His only Son to be the just payment for all unrighteousness. It is through God’s gift of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, we have the opportunity to receive His grace through faith in Jesus. It is a free gift. It is unearned. His grace affords us His unmerited favor and gives us eternal life.