Archive for the ‘ Love ’ Category
Remember to get some wisdom from Proverbial Thought!
God really, really, really loves us. Did you know that?
We should thank Him for that on a regular basis.
Please enjoy.
thank You for Your love
for giving me meaning
thank You for compassion
for wanting me as i was
thank You for Life
for sending down Your Son
thank You for loving me
for loving the unlovable
the unloved
me
thank You for Your love
Head over to Proverbial Thought for your daily dose of wisdom!
Did you know God loves you?
It is so true.
How much?
Here are a couple of examples:
See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Matthew 6:28-30, NIVBut God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Romans 5:8-10, NIV
If we were to compare ourselves to plants, it is as though we are flowers. Not just any flowers, but weeds. Due to our sin, we are out of place and only take away from our environment. A weed is a plant out of context. Our sin puts us out of context with God, and all we are able to do ultimately is cause harm.
Something that is quite amazing, though, is that in the hands of an innocent child weeds can become beautiful flowers.
What is more amazing is that, though we are not worth much on our own and out of context, when we turn to God and trust Him, we look like beautiful flowers being presented to Him by His Son who has redeemed us. For at the end of the age, Jesus Christ will return to take His redeemed weeds to the Father:
I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Revelation 14:14-16, NIV
This is what Five Iron Frenzy is singing about in this song “Dandelions”.
Dandelions
In a field of yellow flowers
underneath the sun
bluest eyes that spark with lightning
boy with shoes undone.
He is young
so full of hope
reveling in tiny dreams
filling up his arms with flowers
right for giving any queen.
Running to her beaming bright
while cradling his prize.
A flickering of yellow light
within his mother’s eyes.
She holds them to her heart
keeping them where they’ll be safe
clasped within her very marrow
dandelions in a vase.
{chorus 1}
She sees love where
anyone else would see weeds.
all hope is found.
Here is everything he needs.
Fathomless your endless mercy
weight I could not lift.
Where do I fit in this puzzle
what good are these gifts?
Not a martyr, or a saint
scarcely can I struggle through.
All that I have ever wanted
was to give my best to you.
{chorus 2}
Lord, search my heart
create in me something clean.
Dandelions
you see flowers in these weeds.
Gently lifting hands to heaven
softened by the sweetest hush
a Father sings over His children
loving them so very much.
More than words could warrant
deeper than the darkest blue
more than sacrifice could merit
Lord, I give my heart to You.
{chorus 2}
Lord, search my heart,
Create in me something clean.
Dandelions
You see flowers in these weeds.
Gently lifting hands to heaven,
Softened by the sweetest hush,
A Father sings over his children,
Loving them so very much.
More than words could warrant,
Deeper than the darkest blue,
More than sacrifice could merit,
Lord, I give my heart to you.
Love God with your mind, and find wisdom at Proverbial Thought!
God loves us in amazing ways. That is the entire point of this poem. It is a brief look at how much God loves us.
how much does God love us
just how much does the One True God love us
He created not just a plant
or solar system
or galaxy
but a universe
how much does He love His prized creation
He never gave up
sent messengers
forgot our sins
sacrificed His Son
how deep does His love truly extend
He left paradise
became one of us
redeemed us
made us His holy children
Head over to Proverbial Thought for your daily dose of wisdom!
No Christian will argue against the fact that everything we do is supposed to be based on love.
One of the greatest writings on this, which has been quoted countless times, is found in 1 Corinthians 13:
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.
God is love. He demonstrated this through the cross. We show love because He first loved us. (1 John 4)
love because
love is blind
because of forgiveness
love forgives
because of repentance
love accepts
because of compassion
love is honest
because it cannot lie
love is bold
because it is the truth
love is truth
because God is the Truth
Get over to Proverbial Thought for some wisdom!
Recently, while listening to the song “One Thing Remains”, I was reminded of several things in general and one thing in particular.
The general things are easy:
What if I Stumble?
The thing that really hit me this time was how much God loves us … when we really mess up.
We may be forgiven, and we may be growing ever more like our Lord Jesus Christ. However, sometimes we stumble. Sometimes we outright disobey. Sometimes we walk into situations we know we should not.
Sometimes, we revert right back into our old selfish, prideful, arrogant, perverted mindset and do things our own way.
…
And God is always there loving us, calling us to repentance and grace.
What was accomplished through Christ on the cross at Calvary still covers our hapless, unthinking, uncaring, snubbing, defiant, sometimes unintentional sins.
Because His love never fails.
One Thing Remains – Jesus Culture (at Passion)
Your love never fails it never gives up
It never runs out on me.
Your love never fails, it never gives up
It never runs out on me
Your love never fails, it never gives up
Your love
Your love.
Never gives up on me.
And it’s higher than the mountains that I face
And it’s stronger than the power of the grave
And constant in the trial and the change
This one thing remains.
Yeah.
Higher
And it’s higher than the mountains that I face
And it’s stronger than the power of the grave
And constant in the trial and the change
This one thing remains.
Your love never fails it never gives up
It never runs out on me.
Your love never fails, it never gives up
It never runs out on me
Your love never fails, it never gives up
Your love.
On and on! Come on!
And on and on and on it comes
Yes, it overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never ever have to be afraid, this one thing
Remains!
This one thing remains!
Your love never fails it never gives up
It never runs out on me.
Your love never fails, it never gives up
It never runs out on me
Your love never fails, it never gives up
In Death! In light! We sing!
In death! In light! I’m confident and covered
By the power of Your great Love!
My debt is paid! it’s nothing that can separate
My heart from Your great love.
Your love never fails it never gives up
It never runs out on me. sing it!
Your love never fails, it never gives up
It never runs out on me
Your love never fails, it never gives up
Your Love!
ON AND ON AND ON!
And on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never ever have to be afraid
This one thing! Remains!
Your love never fails it never gives up
It never runs out on me.
Your love never fails, it never gives up
It never runs out on me
Your love never fails, it never gives up
It never runs out on me!
Your Love
It’s Your love!
Accept the truth that you need more wisdom, and go read the proverbial commentary at Proverbial Thought!
There are two groups in this world:
Within the first group there are subgroups which define a response to Jesus:
There can be subgroups for each of these, but the focus of the poem today is an explanation of that last group.
accept and respond
i heard the Good News
i looked at the facts
i know it was true
i accepted Jesus
my mental decision
brought in a choice
be a new person
or just say i know Jesus
this life can be hard
and not seem very just
i will take up my part
and respond to Jesus
i accept this truth
i will do what i must
i have to share with you
because i responded to Jesus
Wisdom is exposed at Proverbial Thought.
We were made for God’s pleasure, to seek Him, to worship Him, to believe in Him.
I loved you and always will
I loved you and love you still
I created you to have fellowship
I created you for My worship
I wanted you for My child
I wanted you all the while
when you turned away
when you went astray
when you denied my Name
when you left your faith
when you said no to me
when you hung me on a tree
but you came back when I called
but you accepted your fall
I still love you in spite of this
in fact I forgot all you did
because you accept what I did through My Son
Do not forget to find wisdom at Proverbial Thought!
This past weekend I performed my first wedding, and it was for my wonderful sister-in-law and her new husband!
Because I know tiredness and exhaustion is big after a wedding, especially when the ceremony and reception last eight hours plus all of the prep-time before and clean-up after, to save myself some time this week I am posting the message from that wedding!
Now all of you beautiful readers get to feel like you were there! (It really did end up being a wonderful ceremony!)
I hope you enjoy:
Ephesians 5:21-33 tells every married couple:
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
To submit to each other means to live life together.
The greatest examples of living life together can be taken from Jesus and His disciples.
John 2
In John chapter two, we read of Jesus’ first miracle: turning water into wine. This is also the time Jesus first went with His disciples somewhere, and it was a wedding! Working together with each other and those around them made life more enjoyable.
As you start your marriage, learn from Jesus and His disciples: start by having some fun. This is why we are all here! Take this as a reminder to have fun with each other throughout your marriage. It is also a reminder to have fun with your loved ones, your family and friends.
Matthew 14
Speaking of reasons to celebrate, Matthew chapter fourteen shares the story of Jesus and His disciples feeding dinner to about 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish. That would be cause for celebration! (Perhaps another reason we are all here: to be fed!)
Instead, as soon as everyone was done eating, Jesus sent His disciples across a choppy lake in the only available boat while he went off to pray. Before the sun came up, Jesus walked out across the surface of the lake – with waves and all – to the boat.
The disciples were scared at first, but Peter yelled out to Jesus. Jesus called Peter out onto the water, and he went and walked on the water with Jesus!
Peter soon remembered the wind and waves, and he began to sink. And Jesus reached out to grab his hand, pulled Peter up, and the two of them walked back to the boat.
As you build your lives together, you will encounter those times when life is hard. Yet, when one of you gets distracted by the troubles you face, the other can be the support. You can take turns lifting each other up as you walk together.
You never face this life alone. The good and the bad will come in varying degrees, but when you face them together you may find the good in the bad. Submitting to each other is listening to and helping each other continually, that you may grow deeper in love and happiness.
Keller
Timothy Keller also compared marriage to a journey, saying that it is:
“. . . a journey that includes shared experience, setbacks, challenges, knowledge, and many many things that make you crazy as well as [the] things that make you happy. If marriage is to endure over time, it has to be because both people within it have tacitly acknowledged something that young lovers might find preposterous: it’s bigger, and more important, than both of us. It’s love, sure, and inside jokes and conversational shorthand. But it’s also families, friends, traditions, landmarks, knowledge, history.”
Do not be a fool, and go get some wisdom over at Proverbial Thought!
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50, NIV
Christianity is the most popular religion in the United States of America. In fact, approximately 74% of Americans claim to follow some form of Christianity (found at census.gov).
That is amazing! 74%! That is about three-quarters (3/4) of those living in the USA!
How well do we live up to this?
Welcome or Unwelcome?
Many people look to this passage and Luke and see the love and faith displayed by this woman in Jesus as Messiah.
Most times this passage is used to show how God’s love and grace goes to all people, but those who are painfully aware of their sin are those who are most grateful for the forgiveness they are given.
However, look at what is said about the two people most interested in Jesus here.
“Sinful Woman”:
“she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair”
“this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet”
“she has poured perfume on my feet”
Simon:
“one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him”
“You did not give me any water for my feet”
“You did not give me a kiss”
“You did not put oil on my head”
Simon, a religious leader, comparable to a pastor today, invited Jesus into his home for dinner.
Typically, when you have a guest, you greet them, then you offer something such as a place to put shoes or jackets.
In this case, Simon should have greeted his Guest with a kiss (on the cheek or the lips or, for you Baptists and Nazarenes, with the hands in the form of a good handshake). He then should have offered at least some water to clean His feet and/or some lotion or perfume after having walked around in the sun all day.
Instead, Simon expected his Guest to take care of himself (except for the food, of course). His real intention was to either find out more of this so-called Messiah or to look important for having this great teacher in his home.
Simon disregarded all forms of respect and love to look important. He did not treat Jesus as a welcome guest.
A Land of “Simon the Pharisees”?
How many Americans (or christians from around the world) treat Jesus the same way?
I am sure there are honest people out there who are doing the best they can, and perhaps they are simply living by what they have been taught.
If you look around at this nation, there are a lot of people who invite Jesus into their houses, but they ignore Him most of the time.
We have athletes who thank their Lord Jesus Christ after every game; but they sleep around with various partners, get into drugs and alcohol, or lose all of their money to frivolous and/or dangerous things.
We have politicians who pray in the name of Jesus, but they lie, cheat, and steal from their constituents and government on a regular basis.
We have preachers who use Jesus as a reason for a 501(c)3 status (tax-exempt) and promote a different gospel of good feelings and good intentions.
We have churches as fancy as country clubs where people carry their Bibles to look good and holy, but the only time they spend with Jesus is an hour on Sunday mornings and maybe on Wednesday nights.
We have committees and groups who promote social justice and stopping the liberals/conservatives from destroying the fabric of American society, but they lack love for some of the very people who need love the most.
Remember …
Those who look good or know all the answers tend to be the ones who invite Jesus in to their homes, but it is the people who serve Jesus who are forgiven and accepted by God.
How do you love Jesus? By expecting some of the glory or by humbling yourself and serving others?
Learn patience and wisdom by going to Proverbial Thought.
Last week I shared a poem about the greatest evidence of love ever shown.
This week is about our response!
Your love amazes me
You fill my senses
and move my spirit
how can i not respond
to an awesome Creator
Who loves me so much
Who loves us all
that He created a universe
and put it in motion
just to come inside it
to create us
to join us
to know us
how can i not respond
a simple man of God 