Love is…

Jesus told his disciples in John 8: 34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  He’s repeating himself, so it must be important…right? 

Peter says (2 Peter 1:5-9) ”For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” 

John says (1 John 4:7-12) ”Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. “

Paul’s words to the people at Corinth are a beautiful definition of what it means to love one another.  It’s long been a favorite of mine, and now that I am trying to rebuild my life the words carry a deeper, more pressing meaning. I want to love others so well that people will see Jesus.  I want to love in increasing measure so that I can be effective and productive.  I want God’s love to be made complete in me. I want to possess the qualities Paul lists. I know that growing these qualities is a life-long project, and I need to start with the little seed within me now! 

 I Corinthians 13

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Psalms 3

  1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
       How many rise up against me!

 2 Many are saying of me,
       “God will not deliver him.”       

 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
       you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

 4 To the LORD I cry aloud,
       and he answers me from his holy hill.      

 5 I lie down and sleep;
       I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

 6 I will not fear the tens of thousands
       drawn up against me on every side.

 7 Arise, O LORD!
       Deliver me, O my God!
       Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
       break the teeth of the wicked.

 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. 
       May your blessing be on your people.

I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life when I felt like everything was going wrong and everyone was against me.  Really.  In my eyes, my enemies were everywhere.  No one was on my side.  In my case, this was when I was running headlong away from God…headed toward that cliff from which I would take a nosedive!! I was young and foolish and desperately looking for a safe place to hide.  I looked everywhere except where I should….I should have been running into God’s arms…the safest of safe places!

Later in my life (the life that resulted from my bad choices) I felt like I had an enemy…but he was so much stronger than me.  I couldn’t fight against him. I had chosen to be with him, so how could I now say “Oops, my bad. I was wrong”?  Once again I felt defeated and hopeless. I wanted to ask God to help me get out, but how could I? Dare I ask Him to rescue me when I hadn’t even talked to Him about those choices that led me into that pit in the first place?

Finally, a friend talked to me enough, listened to me enough, taught me enough that I found some strength to trust God to take care of “enemies”. In reading this Psalm, there were several things I hadn’t seen before.  King David prayed AGAINST his enemies.  He didn’t say “God please let me find a way to be happy in the middle of this mess. Just let those enemies change so that things will not be like this.  And if that can’t happen, then just let me die” NOPE…he asked God to kick them in the jaw!!! Knock their teeth out!!! See that in verse 7??

Such comforting images in verses 3 and 5!  God is a shield about us and He lifts our head….when we are too ashamed of the situation we are in, too embarrased to meet the eye of others, just too hopeless to want to go on,  God is there to protect us and restore us. “I lie down and sleep.  I wake again because the Lord sustains me” A picture of feeling safe enough to sleep…and feeling strength enough to get up and go at it again the next day…even though the enemies are still numerous!

I know I haven’t even touched on the riches found in this Psalm, but these are just a few thoughts that have bounced around inside my head today.  When things seem so bad…when EVERYTHING seems like it’s headed towards a bad end…ask God for deliverance.  Ask God to take away your enemies’ ability to hurt you.  Trust that He will answer you.  Let Him be a shield about you.  Let Him lift your head.  Let Him bestow glory on you.

Thanks God!!

 

 

I LOVE sunrises and sunsets.  I am so fortunate to live in flat old West Texas where there are no obstacles on the horizon! I grew up out in the middle of nowhere.  Only open fields to the west and the east…I LOVED IT!! I know there are people that do not and will not understand that.  But I really love to watch the sun go down….all the way down….and watch that last little blip go out of sight.  And to watch the sun come up through a little bit of a morning haze and turn into a huge orange ball of fire…WOW!! It is truly amazing to me.  The colors in the clouds….the glow in the sky.  These things stir my soul.  They make me feel small and insignificant by their immense majesty… yet somehow special at the same time. Let me explain.

For several years now…and I don’t really know when it started….I have felt like every sunrise and sunset has been hand-painted by God just for me! He painted that particular color, placed the clouds in that certain pattern…because He knew that I would appreciate it..because He knew that my heart would swell at the sight.  So I always say “Look at that beautiful sky! Thanks God!!”

My favorite teacher taught me that God didn’t need any of the things He made on this earth. He didn’t need the flowers to smell so sweet. He didn’t need the food to taste so good. He didn’t need the breeze to feel so soothing. He didn’t need the sky to look so beautiful. Yet He made those things the way He did because He knew that WE needed them to be that way! It’s just one of the many ways He shows His understanding of us and His immeasurable love. You matter to God.  He knows what makes you happy and He delights in you! (Psalms 147:11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,  who put their hope in his unfailing love.)

Is there something that you say “Thanks God!” about? Is there something that you feel like He does ….just for you?

Proverbs rerun

Proverbs 3: 

 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;

 6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight

I post these verses again, just as a reminder to myself, that when things seem so wrong, so unjust, so unfair ….I need to set aside my own “understanding” and trust the Father.  He is just. He is good. He is righteous. 

There are things that I do not understand happening right now in the life of a friend…I cannot see how these things are right or fair.  It seems like a heartbreakingly, unfair burden for this person to bear. But I have decided to allow God to rule my life…(and so has my friend.)   To let God work and trust that He will work all things together for good. 

I have seen it happen in my own life (sea-parting, mountain moving things happened when I needed them to during my divorce and the events that followed).  I have seen it happen in other’s lives.  (Adoptions, passports, paychecks,  jobs, “chance” meetings, someone’s brokenness leading to another’s healing, things that seemed impossible, resolved).

I do not understand and cannot see God’s plan in this thing.  But I will lean on God’s righteousness.  I will not trust my own understanding of matters.  I will trust that the Father knows. I will turn my heavy heart over to God and let Him carry that burden.  Even when I do not see it, I will believe that He is working,  and will continue to work in this friend’s life to bring good where there was bad, to bring blessings where there were curses, to bring comfort where there was heartbreak.

Lord, hold my friend in Your hand and give them the peace that comes from surrendering to You.