Category Archives: love

Thinking on the Rain

13 Friday May 2016

Posted by in anticipation, birds, blooming things, comfort, communication with God, earth, God's faithfulness, God's love for us, gratitude, love, nature, observation, rain

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“Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it” Isaiah 45:6 (NKJV).

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A grey cloud hovers overhead. It is the promise of drink for dry ground and the uplifted faces of blooming things; the promise of water enough for birds to bathe in a forsaken fount. The grey cloud covers the sun and provides shade and a cooler day for man and animal alike.

Thunder grumbles and the rain comes, spreading its kindness over the day’s needs.file0001836239952 The earth smells fresh and colors deepen as flowers and grass are clad with glistening drops of rain. The world seems to slow a bit and I can’t hold back a smile, for I love a rainy day!

It occurs to me that the simplest things color my life with happiness. Watching showers march upon the ground and sidewalks, seeing a bird wash insects from his wings in a DSCF4397new pool of water. Pondering the buds of roses about to break forth into full bloom and how their deep drink of rain will lend a hand to the process.

I think of how rain promenades on ponds, lakes, rivers, and even the sea. The larger the body of water, the more mystical a rain appears in its stroll. What sight is grander than the downpour of heaven joining waters of the yawning deep? What vision sweeter than blooming things with lifted faces catching a morning shower? DSCN4082What image more right than birds making use of a shallow basin with its fill of afternoon rains?

Lord, I long to linger in the splendor of how you’ve made things, to think on the beauty of nature without man’s interference. Where could I go and pay a price for something as wondrous as this? You give so generously of all you have fashioned; let me not miss it. It is a demonstration and continuing promise of Your love. I bow to you with grateful heart.

“For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God”(Hebrews 6:7 NKJV).

Photo credits to morgueFile, with appreciation.

The Value of Love

03 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by in love

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“. . . and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).

Courtesy MorgueFile

Courtesy MorgueFile

I have a deep and abiding faith, a faith that has sustained me for a lifetime and I am now 72. It is a faith that has carried me through the waters and the fire, scripturally speaking, a faith that has seen miracles of healing come to be. Even so, my faith couldn’t move a mountain. It couldn’t move a rock in the road! I ponder on so great a faith, but I cannot get my mind around it.

My eyes go on to the last part of the sentence in 1 Corinthians 13:2: “. . . but have not love, I am nothing.” Even a faith that would move a mountain is not worth what love is worth to Almighty God. In His eyes, love has the highest value of all. In my earthbound thinking, it seems faith would be the greatest, but it isn’t so.

1 Peter 4:8 says “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

Courtesy MorgueFile

Courtesy MorgueFile

It was God’s love for us that provided the blood of Jesus our Savior to cover our sins. And this alone should tell us all we need to know about the highest value being placed on love: the Father shed His only Son’s blood because of His love for us, a love greater than anything we will ever understand this side of Heaven. Peter declares that our love for others is of far more importance to God than all the wrongs we do. God prefers looking at our pluses, not our minuses.

Perhaps John says it best with this simple message: “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Not God loves, but God is love. So if God is love, then we see why He delights in our giving love to others. It is evidence to the world of our likeness to Him, that which speaks the truth of God.

Courtesy MorgueFile

Courtesy MorgueFile

“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” (John 13:34).

The Steadfast Love of God

07 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Bible study, comfort, God's faithfulness, God's love for us, hope, how God sees us, insight, love, Love for God, never alone, observation, study scripture, trust, understanding

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In the English Standard Version of the Bible, “steadfast love” is mentioned 196 times in the Old Testament, 127 times in the Psalms alone. One of my favorite verses using steadfast love is Psalms 6:4: “Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.”

These words of the psalmist David can be turned into a prayer of petition for healing by personalizing it with the individual’s name. It is also an appropriate prayer for our nation: “Turn, O Lord, deliver (our nation); save (us) for the sake of your steadfast love.”

“Steadfast love” is a translation from the Hebrew word chesed, found approximately 250 times in the Hebrew Bible according to many research sites, Ken Emilio of RemnantReport.com being one. Norman H. Snaith in A Theological Word Book of the Bible says that in English versions of the Bible, chesed has also been translated as loving-kindness, mercy, and loyalty. I think it is very safe to say God wants us to know we can rely on His love. That His is a faithful and committed love. Why else would He tell us so many times?

Just as His love for us is steadfast, He asks that our love be the same. In the New Testament, scripture turns it around from how God loves us and uses chesed as how we are to love God and others. Christ came to demonstrate the Father’s steadfast love by showing us how to take what we have been given and give it to others. Chesed is found six times in the New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Thessalonians 3:5, 1 Timothy 6:11, 2 Timothy 3:10, Titus 2:2, and James 1:12. One of those references, 2 Thessalonians 3:5, says it like this: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”

Beautiful songs of praise continue to be written about God’s steadfast love. Don Moen sings praise to God with his song “Your Steadfast Love” at https://youtu.be/ibky__ABoLs  and Hillsong sings “The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases” at https://youtu.be/0W3mspwIKgk .

As we sing our own praises to God, may we thank Him for a love that is steadfast and faithful. Man’s love may fail us, but God’s love never will. He has told us that emphatically.

Photo Courtesy of Morgue File

Photo Courtesy of Morgue File

Mornings with Samantha

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in availability, communion with God, compromise, focus, love, negotiating, pets needs, quiet time, relationship, responsibility, Siamese cats, solving problems, trust, understanding

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I love the still quietness of early morning. All seems best with my world at that time of day and it is then that I spend time with God. I need this first thing because I know if I don’t do it first, it likely won’t get done at all, and I need His guidance throughout my day. I protect myself as best I can from distractions, yet the minute I settle into my reading chair, one of my cats, Samantha, begins pacing from side to side looking for lap space. For the longest, it annoyed me and I would push her away. This was my time, I wanted focus, and her need for attention complicated that.

Samantha beside the kitty toys

Samantha beside the kitty toys

One morning it occurred to me that I wasn’t appreciating the importance of Samantha’s need. Siamese cats are very people-oriented. They can do without feline relationship but they need humans. So, I decided to change my attitude. Rather than being frustrated with Samantha’s determination to be in my lap, I would make her welcome and see if we could reach a compromise on the first moments of the day.

Samantha led me easily into the routine she wanted: a kiss on top of her head, followed by a little scratching around her ears and chin. Her eyes stare dead into mine as I croon to her how special she is.  I rub the sides of her face and she leans into my hand to get the full benefit of pressure massage. After a few concentrated minutes of attention, Samantha is satisfied enough to leave my lap and go on with her day so that I can get on with mine. By considering her needs as also important and making a slight adustment, we both now have frustration-free mornings.

Samantha at about 5 weeks

Samantha at about 5 weeks

Samantha depends on my love for her, just as I depend on God’s for me. She needs to trust my availability, just as I trust God’s for me. We are actually seeking the same things: time, trust and relationship. One thing for sure, God never pushes me away, annoyed with my wanting time with Him, and it was that reflection that caused me to rethink how I wanted to respond to Samantha.

There is a bigger lesson here: Often times, things seem problematic when they don’t have to be. Sometimes all it takes is looking at a problem from another perspective. When we loosen the grip on our need enough to respect another’s as being just as important, good, workable solutions can be found.

‘Love is patient and kind . . .  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV).

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:24 ESV).

My Word is LOVE

01 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in love

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It’s spreading like a sudden fire in a dry forest. A one word focus for the New Year rather than a list of resolutions most of us never keep. My word of focus came without thinking twice. The word is “love.”

I choose “love” because the ones I have admired most are those who have loved best. They have understood the way of God’s love, that it is unconditional and abundant. They embrace it and let it spill onto others. They embody a joy and ease with life that tells me they know the secret to contented, purposeful living.

People who love well have an aura about them that speaks good will. They seem to move effortlessly through life, content with the simpler things, unhampered by the world’s bounty.  I see them as vessels filled with God’s love, ever ready to spill out onto the lonely, the heartbroken, the guilt-ridden, the insecure, the anxious, the frightened, the grieving, the young and the old. They truly care about all God’s creations and caring seems for them as natural as breathing.

They don’t hide behind busyness or judge anyone as being unworthy. These people have learned the joy of being fixed on God’s love and not the world about them. They don’t love for recognition or reward, but for the simple pleasure of caring.

So in 2015 my word of focus is “love.” I want to love more and better. And the best way I know to do that is to pitch my tent around the Book of Love in new ways. Read scriptures as if for the first time and think about how to implement what I am reading as an action of God’s love. It is one thing to know about God’s love and yet another to live that love. I want to do a lot more of the latter.

And we know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. –1 John 4:16 (NKJV)

God’s Value on Love

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in faith, love

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Matthew 17:20 “. . . I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.“  (NIV)

1 Corinthians 13:2 “. . . and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing.” (NIV)

I have a deep and abiding faith, a faith that has sustained me for more than 60 years.  It is a faith that has carried me through the waters and the fire, scripturally speaking, a faith that has seen a miracle of healing come to be.  Even so, my faith couldn’t move a mountain.  It couldn’t move a rock in the road! I ponder on so great a faith, but I cannot get my mind around it.

My eyes go on to the last part of the sentence in 1 Corinthians 13:2 “. . . but have not love, I am nothing.”  (NIV) Even a faith that would move a mountain is not worth what love is worth to Almighty God.  In His eyes, love has the highest value of all.  In my earthbound thinking, it seems faith would be the greatest, but it isn’t so.

1 Peter 4:8 says, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (NIV)  It was God’s love for us that provided the blood of Jesus our Savior to cover our sins.  And this alone should tell us all we need to know about the highest value being placed on love:  the Father shed His only Son’s blood because of His love for us, a love greater than anything we will ever understand.  Peter declares that our love for others is of far more importance to God than all the wrongs we do.  He prefers looking at our plusses, not our minuses.

Perhaps John says it best with this simple message:  “God is love.” 1 John 4:16 (NIV).  Not God loves, but God is love.  So if God is love, then we see why He delights in our giving love to others.  It is evidence to the world of our likeness to Him, that which speaks the truth of God.

“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.” John 13:34 (NIV)