Even Enemies...

"Jesus turns man's morality on its head and essentially says, "In the kingdom of God we are to love our enemies as well as our neighbors." (p. 149, I Never Thought I'd See the Day!, Dr. David Jeremiah) He goes on to say, "When it comes to love, a truly moral and ethical person has no enemies." (ibid)

Good reminder, we are not only called to love our neighbors, and those we like or love, but even those we don't love, we don't like, and we don't even agree with.

How We're Created

Mother Teresa reminds us, "We all have been created in the image of God -to love and to be loved."

It's really that simple. You were created to love and be loved.

Don't make it complicated. Don't see it as difficult.

It's a simple task, if we chose to accept it.

If we do, it's the greatest joy there is.

Mission: LOVE

With a new release version of Mission Impossible, a preacher reminded me our mission is to LOVE. So, today your mission, should you decide to accept it is LOVE. It's our mission everyday. It's unchanging and new everyday. I hope you and I both accept our impossible mission which is only possible because He loves us and works in us.

First Things First

Mother Teresa also said: "If we really want to love, we must learn to forgive before anything else."

What a teacher. What a lesson.

To love, we must learn to forgive.

So, if you want to love, first learn to forgive.

That reminds me of Matthew 6:33 (my life verse), "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

We must learn to do first things first.

Forgiving is Love, Forgetting takes humility

My neighbor said, "To forgive is love, to forget is humility."

I thought this was quiet profound. She said it came from a Mother Teresa quote.

So, here's the quote:

"Jesus taught us how to forgive out of love, how to forget out of humility...

Is my love for others so great, so real as to forgive, not out of duty but out of love?"

I think my neighbor said it pretty well.

It's an amazing thing to ponder forgiving as love, and forgiving as an act, or statement of humility.

Let Laura's Song Bless You

What if "Love Is Way Too Much To Give Us Lesser Things?"

Andrea Bocelli.."More"

Who better to sing of loving more than Andrea Bocelli.

Love More...

God Sees and Will Not Forget Your Labors of Love

Hebrews 6:10 tells us that "God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love..."

So be reminded: God sees, God is just, God doesn't forget.

Be encouraged in your labors of love.

Hebrews 6:12 encourages us to "not become sluggish"... and to have patience.

Hebrews 6:18 tells us this to encourage us in our works of love for "the hope set before us."

Because God sees and God is just, He will reward us for the works of eternal consequence: love.

Love Never Fails - Sing it!

Purpose of Money: Make Love Work

Mark Nepo in his book, The Book of Awakening, claims the "only true purpose of money was to help make love work....to use whatever money I can afford to make love work...."

He says, "we've squandered our chances to love along the way."

He challenges us to "act on the love you feel now, " and "be the love you feel now." (p. 76-78)

A Prayer to Love

O my God,

Let me walk in the way of love

which knoweth not how to seek self

in anything whatsoever.

But what love must it be?

It must an ardent love,

a pure love,

a courageous love,

a love of charity,

a humble love,

and a constant love.

O Lord, give this love into my soul,

that I may never more live nor breathe

but out of a most pure love of Thee,

my All and only Good.

Amen

(by Dame Gertrude More)

Holy Vision

"Love is not blind; love is the holy vision." (p. 397, One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp)

Love does see, it sees beyond what human eyes can see. Love sees what is invisible, what is to come. Love sees further down the road than the eye can see. Love looks for eternity.

A Dare to Notice

Ann Voskamp in her book One Thousand Gifts, dared "to write down one thousand things I love." She declares, "It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me. The true Love Dare. To move into His presence and listen to His love unending and know the grace uncontainable. This is the vault of the miracles. The only thing that can change us, the world, is this - all His love." (p. 170)

Attempt today to claim those thousand gifts of life and love. As we see and take notice of the everyday miracles around us and appreciate the beauty in them, we will see the love in them as well. Take the dare.

Knowledge & Love

"Knowledge of God is commonly a measure of love.

The deeper and more extensive your knowledge, the greater will be your love."

(Brother Lawrence)

How's your knowledge of God?

Does your knowledge reveal itself in love?

Set the Agenda

In their book, UnChristian, Kinnaman & Lyons declare that "Love is the agenda." They use John 13:35 for this declaration: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Remember your agenda. Remember the agenda. It's only about the love.

Loving or Judging, that is the Question

In their book, UnChristian, Kinnaman & Lyons describe love as the "opposite of judgmentalism."

(page 200)

The next time you start to judge, check yourself, and see how you can love them instead of judging them.

Our Mindset Effects Our Love

John Piper preached in a sermon:

"It is no heavenlimindedness that hinders love.

It is worldlimindedness that hinders love.

How can I maximize my enjoyment of God for all eternity while I am an exile on the earth?

And his answer is always the same: by doing the labors of love.

When religious people fail to love, it is not because they have fallen in love with heaven,

but because they are still in love with the world."

(quoted in The Hope of Glory, p.37,38, Sam Storms)

A Prayer for Love

"Come! Spirit of Love!

Penetrate and transform us

by the action of Your purifying life.

May Your constant, brooding love

bring forth in us more love

and all the graces and works of love.

Give us grace to remain still under its action,

and may that humble stillness be our prayer."

AMEN

Evelyn Underhill

What Trail Are You On?

"Isn't the trail of our relationships the time it takes for the heart to practice its part in the movement we call Love?

Isn't the trail of our honest questions the time it takes for the mind to practice its part in the movement we call Wisdom?

Isn't the trail of our changing beliefs the time it takes for the spirit to practice its part in the movement we call God?

And isn't our trail of Oneness, those brief moments when everything comes together, isn't this the time it takes for Love and Wisdom and God to bring the common place in us alive?"

p. 64, The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo

I don't know, is it?

Loving in Reality; Living in Satisfaction

"Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality—not as we expect it to be but as it is—is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love." Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

"Take, Lord, all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding,

and my whole will.

You have given me all that I have,

all that I am,

and I surrender all to Your Divine will.

You have given me all that I have,

all that I am,

and I surrender all to Your Divine will.

Give me only Your love and Your grace.

With this I am rich enough,

and I have no more to ask.

AMEN."

Ignatius of Loyola

(quoted in Prayers from the Heart, p. 27)

Praying for His Pattern of Love in My Life

"Today, O Lord, I yield myself to you.

May your will be my delight today.

May your way have perfect sway in me.

May your love be the pattern of my living."

Richard Foster

Prayers from the Heart

p. 24

Fool for Love?

"You may become 'a fool for love,' but real love will enable you to wise up." (p. 105, Jan Silvious, Fool-Proofing Your Life)

Loving intelligently. Loving with your brain. Loving with your intellect. You can do it. It will be a more real and powerful love. No one who loves is a fool. Others may act a fool with your love, but that's their problem! Don't let it be yours.

Loving With Your Brain

"Loving unconditionally doesn't mean loving without a brain." p. 218, Jan Silvious, Fool-Proofing Your Life

Use your brain to love intelligently.

Your love requires your brain as well as your heart.

Meditate on Love

Psalm 48:9, "...O God, we meditate on Your unfailing love."

Meditate today on His unfailing love to you.

Things may have failed you.

Circumstances may have fallen short of your expectations or hopes.

People may have disappointed you.

But, He has never failed to love you.

He has loved you through it all.

Meditate on that, and be blessed. Be encouraged.

Accept that love, and in turn share it.

Need Love?

Today the Pastor said, "God doesn't need our love...we need to love Him."

God is not needy, we are.

It is good to remember, that we need to love.

We need to love Him.

We need it for us.

What are You Looking at?

Proverbs 17:9 says, "He who covers a transgression seeks love..." which is similar to Proverbs 10:12, "love covers all sins."

Love as a covering. It's not saying it excuses wrongdoing, it is just saying it looks beyond it, or over it. Transgressions or sins will happen to you. It's what you do with them. It's how you react to them. It's what you look at, the wrong or the love.

How's the climate around you?

I watched a documentary on Jacqueline Kennedy. It struck me as she spoke of the home environment she wanted to create for her husband, the President of the United States. She said wanted a "climate of affection." I thought oh, if everyone wanted to host that environment. Wouldn't everyone want to live in an environment of affection, of warmth, of concern for the other? Wouldn't that be a great place to come home to? It may take some planning. It may take some work. But wouldn't it be worth it? A climate of affection takes a heart of love. Set the thermostat in your heart to love and see what the environment is like.

A Psalm of Love

Psalm 45 includes a subheading: "A song of Love"

The chapter starts with, "My heart is overflowing with a good theme..."

A song of love starts with a heart flowing over with a good theme.

Let your heart overflow with a good theme today, let it be love.

Love on Broadway

My husband and I went to see the Broadway production of Spiderman: Turn off the Dark. There was a quote in there that said something like, "it is love that makes you human, it is love that keeps you sane, and it is love that makes you humble." Right there in the middle of the play. Right there in the middle of the script. Isn't it amazing how love is at the center of all true contemplations? Turn off the dark in your life with love!

Remembering Love

On the 10th Anniversary of 9-11, we remember those who died.

We recall where we were. We even remember what it made us feel.

Some of us may know what it propelled us to do.

Some of us are different because of this tragedy. And we'd hope, better.

The most often quoted phone call or message that day was, "I love you."

Nothing was said as often. Nothing was more important.

Don't miss the opportunity today to tell someone you love them, before it's too late.

A Challenge and A Blessing

I was challenged by this quote today by Warren Wiersbe:

"The greatest test of your spirituality is how easy you are to live with."

Think on that one. And thank God I live with someone easy to live with! Amen!

Just A Check

Are you alive? Acknowledge you won't always be.

Are you alive? Be a blessing.

Are you alive? Consider others and love them while you can.

Are you alive? Do give - it does matter.

Are you alive? Enjoy life: LIVE.

Be Perfect: LOVE

Matthew 5:48 records Jesus' words: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Pretty tall order, isn't it?

I won't make it.

But my Bible's footnote gives this: "The emphasis in the command to be perfect is not on a flawless moral nature but on an all-inclusive love that seeks the good of all. Instead of following the example of sinners who love only those who love them, we are to be like the Father in also loving those who do not love us."

Still a tall order, but one I should be striving to fill. Perfection = Loving.

A Prayer of Francis of Assisi

"O Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me

a right faith,

a certain hope

and a perfect love..."

How's Your Wellbeing?

"Wellbeing is about the combination of our love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and the pride we take in what we have contributed to our communities. Most importantly, it's about how these five elements interact." (p. 4, Well Being, Rath & Harter)

These authors artfully tell us our wellbeing depends on the quality of our love: for what we do, how we relate to others, how we relate to money and things, how we feel about our bodies, and we interact in our cultures.

It's an important think to consider and evaluate.

Two "You Must..."

Brother Lawrence outlines two "You Must..."

"You must always be governed by love, without selfish views.

You must resolve to make the love of God the end or purpose of all your actions."

(p. 21, The Believer's Secret of the Abiding Presence)

This is good advice.

1. We must be governed by love, not our own desires.

2. We must resolve to make loving God the end game and purpose of all we do.

If we do these things, all will be well.

Love Relaxes

"Love relaxes people." Gray Keller

Gray said this the other day, and the truth of this hit me.

Love does let you relax. Love allows you to be you. Love allows you to trust in whatever the future holds. Relax in your Fathers' love today.

Love & Frienship

I've heard, Love is at the heart of every true friendship.

These two verses seem to tell us that is true:

Two are better than one...if one falls down, his friend can help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17

Be a friend today, love someone...help someone.

The Influence of Love

"Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another." George Eliot

Influence someone today, love them!

Love Extravangantly

The Message Bible concludes the Love Chapter of First Corinthians 13, this way:

"Trust steadily in God,

hope unswervingly,

love extravagantly."

What a great word picture. Love extravagantly today as you trust God and hang to hope.

Consider This Today

My prayer for today: I want to be overwhelmed by the love of God.

Blocking Love

In their book, The Three Loves, Larry Kreider and Jimmy Seibert state: "Man does not rightly share God's love, which holds the answer to the world's problems." (p. 158)

They gave the example of relief food and medicine being held up in customs due to bribes and red tape. This illustrated how the supply was there but was being withheld or blocked.

They conclude, "It breaks the heart of God when something in us blocks the distribution of His love in all the earth." (Ibid)

Don't let His love flowing through you to others be blocked by red tape, apathy, or anything!

Three Point Check

As the pastor read the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22,23, he encouraged us to everyday check the first three fruits (love, joy, peace) to see if they are in our lives. He says if we can check those everyday, the others will follow (patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).

It's a good check today. How are you doing with your 1. Love, 2. Joy, and 3. Peace?

Surely the others will follow after those.

Fulfilling, Doing Well, or Missing the Mark?

"If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin." James 2:8,9

Two parts to this: 1. You do well; 2. You sin.

It confirms us if we love, we do "good."

If we don't love, but show partiality, or inequity, or prejudice, we do "bad."

I always thought of love as being partial to someone...I like them better. But, here it says this is wrong. True love sees and acts beyond likes or dislikes. True love stays love inspite of our partialities, prejudices, and preconceptions.

Before you act today, think: Do I do well, or do I sin (miss the mark)?

Absence or Presence - it all works for Love

"absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it." Thomas Fuller

Whether you are together or apart, your love can grow.

It just depends on how you use your time and your heart.

Engage your heart in the things that sharpen and strengthen your love.

Absence doesn't have to hurt, and presence doesn't have to annoy.

Both can be used for good.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Speaking the truth in love, we ill in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

Ephesians 4:15

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. II Corinthians 9:8

Loving Without All the Answers

Larry Kreider and Jimmy Seibert wrote a book called The 3 Loves. The basic premise of the book is to love Jesus, love God's people, and love a broken world, or the lost.

One thing that said a lot was, "You don't have to worry about all the unanswered questions. Simply live out that life of love." (p. 33, 34)

Or as they asked, "Can you love the people in front of you?" (p. 33)

Or as they summarized, "live out the simple values of loving Jesus, loving His people, and loving those around us in our broken world." (p. 31)

Forgiving and Tender

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit." Peter Ustinov

I like that: "a tender look which becomes a habit."

Make tender looks a habit. That will soften not only your heart, but also your interactions with others. Tenderness is just the soil that love needs. And just like a young plant needs the sun to live, love needs forgiveness. Forgiving is a tendering of the heart. Tender your heart today. Love so you can become tenderhearted person dealing tenderly with one another.

"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." Deut 32:3

Love & Humility

"True love is the parent of humility." William Ellery Channing

Love produces/offsprings humility.

Humility comes from a source/place of love.

Love holds you higher.

Humility puts itself down, to hold you up.

Humility is acceptance of who we are and yet a hope for who you might become.

Humility accepts. Love gives.

Their part of the same family.

We need them both in our family.

Love Doesn't End

"True love stories never have endings." -Unknown

Love doesn't end with death.

Love doesn't end.

Love goes on, if only in your heart.

You've heard of people carrying "torches" for another.

That really means, they continue to carry love in their hearts for them.

Love goes on, it never ends.

Love is Feeding & Tending

Citing John 21:17, "The third time he said to him, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 'Do you love me?' He said, 'Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep.'"

Andrew Murray said: "Love was the first and highest condition for him to feed His sheep and care for His lambs....in all our work for Him and in our care for souls, the greatest thing is love...Christ will manifest himself to love, and only love will make you fit for feeding His sheep and tending His lambs." (p. 63,64, The Believer's Secret of the Abiding Presence)

There is Happiness in Loving

"There is only one happiness in life -- to love and to be loved." George Sand

You want to be happy? Who doesn't?

But, how to be happy, that is the question.

This answers that. You want to be happy: LOVE.

Love and you will be loved.

Therein, you will find happiness.

Do not seek happiness on it's own, it will disappoint you.

But, discover happiness as you seek to love.

Love & Happiness

"With love one can live even without happiness." Feodor Dostoevski

Make your goal today loving not on happiness.

Happiness is a good thing. But, let it be a by product of your loving.

Don't get confused with your goals, it's not to be happy, its to be loving.

It's Easier to Love

I thought, "Why can't people love each other?" After another day of hearing people's marital problems, I thought how much easier it would be for them to love. It takes so much effort to argue and fight. The amount of effort that is going into their fighting would be relieved by simply loving. Think about that the next time you start fighting. It's easier to love. Simplify you life: LOVE.

Love Covers

Proverbs 10:12, "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs."

The footnotes in The Fruit of the Spirit Bible says: "Hatred stirs...but love covers...Hate agitates...love pacifies; hate boils...love sails on a placid sea of forgiveness...hate spreads its cancerous tentacles...love removes the ugly tissue of resentment and replaces it with the clean, healed tissue of health." (p. 743)

Love & Courage

"Hate is easy; Love takes courage." -Unknown

Don't be a slacker. Anybody can hate. You don't even have to think about it. It can happen naturally.

Live courageously: LOVE!

Love & Blindness

"It is not love, but lack of love which is blind." Glenway Wescott

We've all heard, "love is blind." It's a lot like "justice is blind."

Glenway Wescott thinks the opposite. Not having love is living without your eyes open.

Lacking love is being blind to what is around you.

Think anew. Open your eyes: LOVE.

Expectations & Giving

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give --- which is everything." Katherine Hepburn

Be willing to give it all.

Expect nothing.

Then, you will know love for sure.

Love is Immortality

"Unable are the Loved to die, For Love is immortality." -Emily Dickinson

Love is immortality, and isn't that what we want?

Live on in your love. It does not die.

You will, but it won't.

Learning to Love By Loving

"We can only learn to love by loving." Iris Murdoch

It's a practice we must start: Learn to love by loving.

No, you won't be perfect.

No, you won't always do it right, or at the right time.

But, don't miss the blessing of trying to learn to love.

Love & Life

"Where there is love there is life." Mahatma Gandhi

Love comes from life. Life is the mother/giver of love.

Birth love today. Bring love forth and see if there is not more of life, in you, in others, in life itself.

Aliveness

"We are most alive when we're in love." John Updike

Be alive today. Be in love. Be loving. Receive love. Offer love.

Live & Love!

Loving & Pardoning

"Love truth but pardon error." Voltaire

Oh Voltaire, how you get it right!

One cannot always know the truth, but one can pardon error.

Remember that today.

Don't get it confused, and love error; but love truth and pardon error.

Stronger?

"It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death." Thomas Mann

Sometimes we rely too much on reason and not enough on love.

Don't lose your sense. But, don't lose love either!

Loving Although

"We like someone because.

We love someone although." Henri De Montherlant

Although. In spite of. Anyway. Regardless.

Those are obstacles love overtakes.

Nothing gets between you and the love, the one you love.

Love's Disguise

"Love will enter cloaked in friendships name." Ovid

Love cares, thus it is a friend in your time(s) of need.

Love looks for you, thus it will be interested in you and your concerns.

Love - Friendship - they are so close. Sometimes they are cloaked.

Friends & Hope

"Love without friendship is life without hope." -Unknown

Is your life filled with friends? Or, is your life marked by a lack of hope?

This will reveal your heart and your love.

Finding A Way

"Love will find a way. Indifference will find an excuse." - Unknown

What are you finding today?

What are you giving?

Living & Loving in God's Light

"I live and love in God's peculiar light." Michelangelo

This is more meaningful considering the art he painted and the sculptures he created.

Michelangelo lived and loved in God's light. And think of His impact on us, even now.

Living from a place of Love

Jacqueline Novogratz in her book The Blue Sweater, said a Rwandan genocide survivor said, "Now we try to live from a place of love." (p. 211)

Let's learn that lesson now, not after we kill each other.

Today focus on living from a place of love.

It can make all the difference.

Love in the Now, Not in the Future

"Love is not what we become, but what we already are." Stephen Levine

Accepting who we are and where we are is the first step in loving. Where we are going may be out of our complete control. But we can guide where we are going by our daily choices. Don't be in love with the future or the dream of what could be. Be loving to who you are, where you are, and who's around you, and your future will be better.

Responsibility for our Future

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future."

George Bernard Shaw

Responsibility leads to a better future for us all.

One thing lacking in our society today, is a responsibility not only for ourselves, but also for others.

I started this with the conviction of our responsibility not only for ourselves, but for our families, our culture, and world. We need to recognize and accept our responsibility to love.

Be responsible: LOVE.

Respecting is Loving

"Respect is love in plain clothes." Unknown

I like the picture of love walking around in plain clothes, like a plain clothes police officer, that no one recognizes. But just at that right moment it is revealed for who they truly are: lovers of people, life, beauty, order, justice. Walk around today in mighty plain clothes and do mightier deeds in the name of love.

Beyond Words

"To be able to say how much you love is to love but little." Petrarch

Your love should be beyond your reach of words.

Don't love too little. Love beyond your reach of comprehension and vocabulary.

Finding Your Faults Through Love

"Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults." Benjamin Franklin

Just a new reason to love today...even those who don't love you - they tell you something you need to hear. Are you listening and loving?

Is your heart attached to your mouth?

Ezekiel 33:31 says "for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain."

Guard your heart and mouth today. Does your mouth alone show love? Do you really pursue your own good primarily? Good questions to ask yourself.

Surrender to Love

"Love conquers all things; let us too surrender to Love." Virgil

Be conquered by love. Surrender to it. It will save you.

Love as my Guide

I'm trying to figure out how to let love be my guide today.

I want everything I do - to be loving.

I know it isn't.

God help me be loving, when I don't want to be and when it is difficult.

Accepting, Rejoicing, and Living

"True love accepts, rejoices in, and lives in His Word." (p. 48, The Believer's Secret of the Abiding Presence, Andrew Murray)

True love, accepting, rejoicing, and living. As people see you today, do they see you accepting where you are, rejoicing in what you have, and living out your life by His Word? If not, reconsider your ways.

Freedom to Live, Serve, & Love

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." Galatians 5:1

"You were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13

"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil..." I Peter 2:16

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have..." Hebrews 13:5

Free for what? Nothing is free. Everything has a price. Use the price Christ paid for you to live freely in love as you serve others. Be free from what can entangle you, so you help free others.

Love Compels

II Corinthians 5:14 says, "the love of Christ compels me..."

How are you being compelled by love today?

The love of Christ moves us.

How is the love of Christ compelling you?

Christ only compels, moves us, for good.

Loving & Giving

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." Mamie McCullough

(quoted in In His Hands, Vonette Bright, p. 107)

Loving is giving. If you love, you give. You give of yourself, your emotion, your time, etc.

It's a giving thing. If you're not giving, ask yourself if you are loving.

Martin Luther's Look at Love

"Everywhere love turns it finds burdens to carry and ways to help. Love is the teaching of Christ. To love means to wish another person good from the heart. It means to seek what is best for the other person." Martin Luther

Love carries burdens. Love finds ways to help.

Love wishes good to others.

Love seeks the best for others.

Love is amazing, isn't it?

How are you loving today?

Obligation or Calling, Compelled or Duty

"I am prepared for battle when my desire to love is simply stronger than my desire to snuff out the flame of mercy that God has graciously intruded into my heart. I am prepared to go into battle, if I cannot do anything but go...until your heart finds that it must love, not out of obligation, but out of the inner calling that compels you to live out the gospel in the reckless, wild, foolish, mysterious, supernatural path of love." (p. 156, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

Doing it all in/with Love

I Corinthians 16:14 says, "Let all that you do be be done with love."

All done in love, what a wonderful thing to ponder.

Everything done with love, what a wonderful place to be.

What a great person to be around. What a blessing.

Be that blesser today.

Love Poured Does Not Disappoint

Romans 5:5 says "...hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Romans 5:1 says, we have peace with God

Romans 5:2 says, we have access by faith

Romans 5:3 says, we glory in tribulations ~ because tribulations produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.

Then, it concludes with hope does not disappoint ~ because we have the love of God poured into us by the Holy Spirit.

Natural or Supernatural

"Love is a violation of the natural order." (p. 207, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

The natural order is to give when you've been given to. The natural way is to retaliate when you've been harmed. Naturally, you will think of yourself above all others. Sometimes the natural way is not the best for yourself or others.

Love penetrates through the natural order with the higher order.

Let the Higher Order break through your mundane life with love.

Break someone else's natural order of things with the greater things of life: Love.

Invited to Love

"Bold love is a unique blend of invitation and warning - a pull toward life and push away from death." (p. 211, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

You are invited to love.

You are warned to not love.

You are invited to live.

You are warned of death.

You have been invited. You have been warned.

Life is full of both. Which will you heed?

Love is Polite

"Love makes requests, not demands." Gary Chapman

The author of the Five Love Languages said this. He's right. Love is polite. Love never demands. That sounds a lot like I Corinthians 13:5: It is not rude.

If you love, make requests, not demands. Demands are for tyrants, not lovers.

Strength & Tenderness

"Love is never weak, nor is true strength ever lacking in tenderness.

When someone gives love, it should be with a strength that does not fear the loss of the relationship. When someone is strong, it should be with a tenderness that does not use fear to intimidate." (p. 213, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

Love is not a weakness. Love is strong. Love does not intimidate. Love invites. Love is real.

Show the strength and tenderness of love today.

Armed with Love

"Bold love is a weapon fit for the spiritual battle." (p. 132, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

We need weapons to fight the battles in our life. It's just most of us pick up the wrong weapons. We use them incorrectly. Or we fail to be armed. Our battles are spiritual, we need spiritual weapons, not personal attack weapons. Be armed with the best weapon for your struggles: Love.

Love & Profit

First Corinthians 13:3 teaches us: No Love, No Profit.

Most of us want a profit, are we willing to pay the cost? Love is the cost for profit today.

Profit is defined as an advantage, benefit, gain. It is the difference between the amount paid/invested and the gain at the end.

"If I have not love, it profits me nothing."

Without love, no matter the investment, there is no gain. The gain comes from the love.

Love or Nothing

First Corinthians 13:2 tells us, without love - I am nothing.

Consider that: Being nothing.

Nothing has nothing to offer. Nothing has nothing to give.

First Corinthians outlines have a lot of other things, but not having love. Someone can have great powers, big responsibilities, or wonderful things. But the Bible teaches us that even though you have these things, if you don't have love, you are nothing.

No one wants to be nothing. But all your powers or things don't make you anything - love does.

Understand what gives you merit, quality...it's not your things or positions, it's your love.

Prayer for Love

I pray for the love of God to constrain me,

I pray for the love of God to compel me,

I pray for the love of God to undergird me,

I pray for the love of God to uplift me.

Love in the Struggling

Allender and Longman in their book, Bold Love, were describing how our definition of love will expand and require more of us than we imagined. But they offer us comfort by saying, "Love is developed over a lifetime of struggling to comprehend the personality of God." (p. 138)

Struggle in your own way to know God, knowing you will come nearer to the comprehension of what it means to love. Remind yourself, there is love in the struggle.

Loving Takes Boldness

"Love's intention was, in part, to destroy the arrogance and ugliness in the beloved's soul in order to enhance their God-given beauty...Love, in this fallen world, is a weapon to destroy evil...It seems we have perceived love as something saccharine..." (p. 183, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

The authors went on to say: "Bold love is the tenacious, irrepressible energy to do good in order to surprise and conquer evil." (p. 185, ibid)

Allender and Longman challenge us: "But, we must press on to understand the difference between loving with a boldness that provokes change..." (ibid)

Never think of love a sugar substitute (like saccharine, artificial sweetener). Love is potent and strong. It has the power to evoke change. Use it for good. Use it for something beautiful.

A Love that Fits

"Love is the offer a good gift that fits the circumstance, needs, and personal variables of the one being loved. Love embraces another for the great work of redemption. It captures someone by a goodness that is anything but 'unconditional'. It is remarkably conditional."

(p. 185, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

Love is conditional, on the giver and the receiver.

Love is an offer for a better way of life.

Love is a personal invitation to a higher form of being.

Kissing, is it Love?

I thought about kissing.

I found out kissing originally was thought to produce electricity.

Science now states it produces endorphins.

Kissing can be ritual in some cultures.

Kissing can also be a display of passion.

Which does your kiss reveal?

Kiss someone for love's sake today-with passion, and not as a ritual.

The Only Thing

"The only thing we can give to God is our love."

(p. 392, Our Lord Prays For His Own, Marcus Rainsford)

We try to give God so many great things, so many great acts.

He only asks us to love: HIM and others.

It's the only thing He asks. It's the only we can give. It's the only thing that lasts.

Love as the Final Arbiter

"The final arbiter must be considerate love, not knowledge or liberty." (p. 1593, footnote in New Spirit Filled Life Bible)

Think of it this way: the final judge, the final referee is LOVE, considerate love.

Knowledge is good. Liberty is good. But, love should be our final decision.

As you think your thoughts or ponder your actions, remember: Let considerate LOVE be your final thought, your determiner.

Puffing or Building?

First Corinthians 8:1 says Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Determine today to build up...others, or even yourself.

Puffed up things tend to explode or implode.

Building up may take longer; but, it will also last longer.

Be a builder.

In Spite Of, Not Because Of

"God's love is 'in spite of' rather than 'because of.' " (Vonette Bright, In His Hands, p. 73)

Love someone today in spite of something, not because of something.

It will strengthen your loving by faith. It will transform you from human to divine loving.

It will confirm you more to His image and will.

Loving by Faith

Vonette Bright in her book, In His Hands, describes loving by faith:

"I can depend on the Holy Spirit to do it through me. That's the essence of loving by faith." (p.77)

"God gives us the love. He also gives the motivation to love. He gives us the ability to love...

You love by faith..." (p. 79)

Love by faith today, not sight, not record keeping, not worth, but by faith.

Lost in the Wonder of Love

As we sang the last verse of Love Divine, All Loves Excelling written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788), I loved the last line: "Lost in wonder, love, and praise."

What a great thing to aspire to being lost in the wonder of love and adoration.

Today, let yourself get lost in the wonder of life, love, and things/people praiseworthy.

Sanctifying & Constraining Principles of Love

"It is through the truth the love of God is revealed and shed abroad in our hearts; love is a sanctifying principle, "We love him, because he first loved us"; love is a constraining principle, "the love of Christ constrains us." (p. 307, Our Lord Prays For His Own, Marcus Rainsford)

Rainsford outlines 2 principles:

1. Love is a sanctifying principle

2. Love is a constraining principle

Sanctify as setting apart for holy use; and constraining as restricting or compelling, paints a very unique picture of love.

Let love sanctify and constrain you today.

Crawl Out

"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place."

Zora Neale Hurston

Crawl out today. Let love have its way.

Let your soul come alive with the love that is inside.

Why We Love

"We are all receiving Charity. There is something in each of us that cannot be naturally loved...

Only the lovable can be naturally loved...[They] are loved not because [they] are lovable but because Love Himself is in those who loved them." (p. 133, The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis)

You don't love them because they deserve it. You love them because in them and you is a spark of the Divine. You love them because it is the right thing to do. You love because it honors God and others.

Tuned & Obedient Instruments of Love Himself

"Charity does not dwindle into merely natural love but natural love is taken up into, made the tuned and obedient instrument of, Love Himself." (p. 134, The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis)

Hand over your natural love in exchange for being an instrument of a Divine Lover.

Let His Love flow through you naturally. Exchange the lowly for the heavenly.

Let Love Himself be in you.

Love as a Measuring Rod

"Love is the measure by which my life will be assessed. Such a measuring rod strips me of any self-importance...it does not seem fair to be assessed on nothing more than the quality of how we have loved others." (p. 32, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

What matters is how we love. Why can't we get that?

We go around doing everything but. We try to build ourselves up, not others. We try to do important things, not minial ones. Lord forgive us. Help us be ready for the Judgment Day, when you will judge us for how we loved others and You.

Can You Love TOO Much?

"It is probably impossible to love any human being simply "too much." We may love him too much in proportion to our love for God; but it is the smallness of our love for God, not the greatness of our love for the man, that constitutes the inordinacy." (p. 122, The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis)

There is no such thing as loving too much. It's abundance and continuance is needed for it's sustenance. Love doesn't dwindle, it multiplies. It may hurt, but you can never love too much. It may not be reciprocated, but that's not your failure. Your task is to love, not too little, never too much.

Failing Love

"Why do so many seem to love so poorly?" That's what the authors of Bold Love posed on p. 43 of their book. There you have it, the question we should all be asking. If love is so important, why do we fail so much, or try so little? The authors, Allender & Longman, postulate: "If we want to learn to love, we must first face the extent of our hatred for God and others." (ibid)

Now, there's a hard question. Is there a hatred, distance from God, and also from others?

We must face our darkness, to be able to turn to the light and the love.

It may not come naturally, we may need to slay some deep seated absence of love (hatred) in our own hearts.

Further in the book, the authors pose: "I am constrained by His presence to love or at least to anguish over my failure to love..." (p. 85)

Lasting Love Takes Forgiveness

"Love cannot last long or live out its eternal purpose in human relationships without a foundation of forgiveness...Unless the fabric of our involvement with others is woven with the threads of forgiveness." (p. 41, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

The author then proceeds to say, "I cannot hope to ever love someone unless I am committed to forgive him." (p. 42, ibid)

Then further: "Love is dependent on forgiveness." (p. 43, ibid)

Let forgiveness thread your tapestry of life of love. So, every time it unravels it exposes threads of love and forgiveness. This way when it is ripped, it reveals what you are made of: Love & Forgiveness.

Sin Derails Love

"Love seems to be constantly derailed by sin." (p. 39, B0ld Love, Allender & Longman)

Don't let sin derail you today. Don't let sin keep you from loving and moving forward.

You have been warned. It will. Will you? Stay on track. Stay "in" love.

Love & Power

"Power without love is reckless and abusive, love without power is sentimental and anemic." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King said this in one of his last speeches. I think he had wearied in his work, and this words were learned through hardship and heartache.

Loving & Agreeing

C.S. Lewis quotes Emerson in his book The Four Loves: "Do you love me? means Do you see the same truth? ~ Or at least, 'Do you care about the same truth?'" (p. 66)

He goes on to say, "...We picture lovers face to face but Friends side by side; their eyes look ahead." (ibid)

When you love someone, you look in the same direction with them. You care about what they think, what they see as truth to them. It is important to be united in your causes, your truth. But it is more important that you care about what they think, than that you agree with what they think.

Learn to Love ~ Because Love is Not Natural

"There is an enormous drive within the fallen human personality that impedes the process of learning to love and an equally powerful force outside of every person that labors to destroy any efforts to love...Complacency and presumption work hand-in-hand to blind even Christians to the importance of love and the inherent battle involved in learning to love. If we are to learn to love, we must begin with an acknowledgment that love is not natural and that love's failure is not easy to admit." (p. 37, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

Some Hard Questions

Dan Allender and Tremper Longman compel us to ask ourselves some hard questions in their book, Bold Love: "Is love the most prized possession in our home, the most cherished character trait we pursue, and the most central lesson we teach in all that we do?" (p. 36)

These are good questions to ask yourself and your family today. We teach and pursue all kinds of things. Let's assess where we are and where we are going, and how.

They remind us: "Love was never meant to be so incidental." (ibid)

Forgiving Love

"Love is not possible, at least for long, without the healing work of forgiveness." (p. 28, Bold Love, Allender & Longman) Later the writers expound: "Forgiving love is the inconceivable, unexplainable pursuit of the offender by the offended for the sake of restored relationship with God, self, and others." (p. 29)

If you are to continue in a loving relationship, forgiveness must be a part of the equation, part of the relationship, a part of your attitude, a part of you. It will take a part of you and give it to another. Forgiveness is the air needed for loving relationships.

The authors offer their premise: "I will not live with purpose and joy unless I love; I will not be able to love unless I forgive and I will not forgive unless my hatred is continually melted by the searing truth and grace of the gospel...Forgiveness is even harder than we think it is - but infinitely more life-giving. If love offers life, forgiveness enables love." (p. 30)

Demanding Occupation

"Love...it's something we all want and, in our better moments, want to give. Yet there is no more demanding occupation than love." (p. 13, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

We all want it. Not all of us want to give it.

Love demands of us, perhaps what we do not want to give.

Let loves demands show you the way.

Let Love Draw You

"Love, or even the hope of love, draws each person into the battle of life." (p. 26, Bold Love, Allender & Longman)

Let love draw you into life today.

It's a battle. Let love be your aim, method, and motivation.

"The love for equals is a human thing - of friend for friend...It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.

The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing - the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.

The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing - to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy...the world is always bewildered by its saints.

And then there is the love for the enemy - love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain....This is God's love. It conquers the world."

Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

Hard Heart ≠ Love

"Hardness of heart is the great enemy of love, since everything depends on receptivity and openness." (p. 863, New Spirit Filled Life Bible note)

I don't know about you, but sometimes, my heart is hard. This makes my heart not friendly to love. This makes me unfriendly...unloving. Watch for that hardness of heart to creep in. It will. A soft heart is open and receptive to life and others. It doesn't lock out either.

Commanded - Enabled

"God's word commands us to love (John 13:34,35).

God's word promises that He will enable us to do what He commands us to do (I John 5:14,15)."

[Promises, Bill Bright, Day 6]

What He commands us to do, He promises to fulfill. He provides for us what we need to do/give.

He will provide. He will keep His promises.

It's All About Love & Relationship

My husband remarked today that Jesus only called us to love God and love man. (Mark 12:28-31 & Matthew 22:35-40)

These are both about love and relationship. One is not about religion and the other about relationship. We should only be in loving relationships. We should only be feeling love. How are you doing?

Love is Stubborn

"Love is stubborn." (Love is a Verb, p. 82)

That statement hit me.

It could sound negative, or be perceived as not complimentary.

But, being stubborn can be good, if it keeps you "there," if it keeps you committed.

Stubborn in love, I like that.

Being stubborn in some things may not be good.

But, being in stubborn in love, now that's a good thing.

Loving Well, Loving First

John & Stasi Eldredge conclude in their book Captivating, that we have an Enemy. And that "Our Enemy despises relationship, hates love in any form." (p. 211) But also continues with the fact that we have a God who calls us to do many things, "but loving well always comes first." (p. 212)

Remember that next time you get sidetracked: Loving Well Always Comes First.

The world will tell you a lot more other things that it thinks should come first: promptness, importance, prestige, pride, position, fame, etc. Don't let it trick you. Don't let the other things get in front of loving first.

Offering Love

John & Stasi Eldredge offer a prayer in their book, Captivating:

"May this day be an offering of love poured out before You on the altar of my life."

What a great prayer for us today. Offer your lives as an outpouring of life.

They go on to say, "Your life is a Love Story..."

Understanding that it may help you to remember to implant and leave the LOVE in your Story!

(page 203)

Love = Beauty

In John & Stasi Eldredge's book, Captivating, they say, "A woman becomes beautiful when she knows she's loved." (p. 114)

That made me think of all the beautiful brides I've seen. When a person is in love, they are radiant, more beautiful. Love brings them beauty. On the contrary, beauty does not bring love. But, love does bring beauty on the person. The lover thinks they are beautiful. Others see they are beautiful too. Sometimes the loved one may get a glimpse of it. They go on to say, "The beauty of a woman is first a soulful beauty....The essence of a woman is Beauty." (p. 132)

Beauty Tip: LOVE!

Two Things

Two things I'm learning lately:

1. I'm insignificant

2. I'm impotent

I am just a spec of dust on this great big planet, and I have no power in this gigantic sphere.

This may sound depressing, but realizing this is good, because it liberates me with truth.

It also compels me in a greater, newer way to commit to love. Because love is the only way to be significant and to bring about change. It's the greatest power on earth.

I Corinthians 13

v7- love endures all things

v8- love never fails

v13-love is the greatest of all

Reaffirm Your Love

II Corinthians 2:8 urges us to "reaffirm your love to him." Paul is urging believers to reaffirm their love to one person. In the previous verse he says "you ought rather to forgive and comfort" them. Think today how you can reaffirm your love to someone. We ought rather to forgive and comfort them, and reaffirm our love to them. Instead we usually walk away, harbor a resentment, and leave them uncomforted. Today is a good day to reaffirm your love to a fellow human being. It's better for them. It's better for us. It's better for all around us.

Restore the Love

Elizabeth Bernstein writing for the Wall Street Journal (April 16, 2011), enlightens us on how to argue, or how best to handle your anger. In the article I was delighted to stumble upon love. She advises us, "Before telling someone you are angry, remind yourself of the purpose of speaking up. 'The intention is not to get something off your chest or to dump something on the other person.' The intention is to restore the affinity and the love in the relationship."

I think if we could remember this it would help us in our relationships. It's always about moving us back into a loving relationship. It's about restoring that which is lost. The goal of arguing is not to make them "see," but to place us back into harmony...love.

Live Like Loved People

The preacher declared today at Easter Sunday service:

"Resurrection people live like loved people."

If only we lived a fully actualized life of the people we are: loved people.

Loved people act differently, think differently, love more distinctly.

Live today like the loved person you are. After all, God loved you so much He sent His Son to die for you. His Son loved you enough to die for your salvation. We truly are loved people. Why don't we act that way?

Framing Love

Frederick Buechner uses the example of a frame to set something off. It is designed to make us stop and pause long enough to pay attention. He goes on to say, "If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors." He goes on to explain: "With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in." (p. 51-53, Listening to Your Life)

Frame some loved one today, just like you do in silver frames. Really see them, enjoy them, admire them, and truly love them.

Arguing as an expression of loving

I read an article on "5 Habits of Successful Couples" by Dr. Pepper Schwartz (AARP, March 15, 2011). The part that caught my eye in the keys was the one on how loving couples argue:

"They know how to fight fairly. It's not that happy couples never argue. Most couples have disagreements. But in a mature relationship, power isn't defined by winning an argument or getting one's way. True power comes from knowing how to discuss differences fully and honestly. If you demean your partner when you disagree, and if, at the end of an argument, you do not feel stronger and more intimate than you did before you started — you are not building a stronger, more loving relationship.Successful couples know how to argue with class and dignity. They may disagree, but in the end, they end up understanding — and respecting — their differences."

The part I thought was the best was: "If, at the end of an argument, you do not feel stronger and more intimate than you did before you started - you are not building a stronger, more loving relationship." Knowing how to disagree, is a part of knowing how to love. It even becomes a way to express your love and extend your love.

Love Died Today at 2 A.M.

Love died today...in the name of Dorry.

She was my Mother.

She was amazing.

She always signed, "Your Everlovin' Mother."

One of her greatest attributes was everpresent, everlovin'.

She thought the key to her everpresent everloving was in forgiving.

Forgiveness (her forgiving others) enabled her to love at all places, at all times, to all people.

She died today. But, her love in me and others will continue on...everlovin'...

That's the good thing about love, it continues on when others don't.

Consider Each Other

Consider one another.

Why?

To stir up love ... and good works.

That's good enough for me.

Consider each other so we can stir up love and good works.

That's a good thing!

Hebrews 10:24 - And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

Perfect!

"Perfect."

No one is, nothing is.

Perfect is accepting the fact no one is perfect and loving them anyway.

That's what perfection is. Loving inspite of imperfections.

There's the recipe for perfection.

Bring It

How can I only bring love into this situation?

How can I shake my sandles of all the dirt of this world and not bring it into the home? (See Matthewe 10:14-shake off the dust from your feet)

How can I bring light into dark areas? (See Eph 5:8-walk as children of light; and

I John 1:7-walk in light)

How can I bring joy where sadness looms? (See Psalm 16:11-in your presence is fullness of joy; and Romans 15:13-Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy...)

Love is in the Giving it Away

Love isn't Love unless you give it away the song says. What do you think?

What are you willing to give away?

Loving from your Core

DaySprings offers this plaque. This is an artist portrayal of "Love must be sincere." I like it.
Love from the center of who you are - that is sincerity. Love from your core today. That's the best kind of love.

A Prayer for our Hearts

"May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God..." (II Thessalonians 3:5)

What a prayer! May God direct your hearts into the love of Him.

Lord, hear our prayers. Direct our hearts right into You and Your Love.

The Cry of Our Hearts - to be Loved for ourselves

Time to Sing! The cry of our soul: Love Me, for Me! Sing along.

Love & Eternity

"Love, then, is the way believers experience eternity within time."

(page 1693, New Spirit Filled Life Bible)

What a great thought. We experience eternity when we love, because love will never end. (I Corinthians 13:8)

Experience eternity today: Love.

Without Blame/Before Him/In Love

Ephesians 1:4 challenges me: to be without blame before HIM in love.

There's a lot going on there.

#1 - to be without blame

#2 - to be before Him

#3 - to be there in/with love

That's a challenge not only for today, but for everyday.

Love as He did

David Platt in his book, Radical, says all Jesus wanted a few good men "who would think as he did, love as he did, see as he did, teach as he did, and serve as he did." (page 88)

What a great challenge for us: Love as Jesus did.

As a matter of fact, do all as He did.

Whatever you do, do it not only to Him, for Him, by Him, but as He would do it.

I Cor 10:31 - whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God

Col 3:17 - whatever you do...do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God

Col 3:23 - whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men

What The World Needs Now

I went to bed saying, what we need is more love.

We don't need more things. We don't need more time.

We don't need more money. What we need is more love.

It reminded me of the oldie goldie song.

Let's remember what we need - now - not later.

Love & Fullness

Ephesians 3:19"...to know the love of Christ...filled with the fullness of God."

To know the love of Christ is to be filled with the fullness of God. WOW.

John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh, the glory of God...full of grace and truth."

John 1:16 says we all have received His fullness.

Colossians 2:19 says, "in Him dwells all the fullness of God."

Feel the fullness of God in your soul through the love of Christ.

Your Soil and Your Roots

A startling thing happened. In the South, football is sacred. An Alabama fan poisened the oak trees at the entrance to Auburn University. As this was news, I read Ephesians 3:17 in a new light: "rooted and grounded in love." Someone poisened their soil, to kill the trees. I can see how things or even people could poisen our soils of love to kill us. It all makes sense. Make sure you protect your soil from predators. If your soil is good, your roots will be nourished. Let your soil be good, so your roots will grow stronger. Watch out for things that poisen you.

Love the Truth

II Thessalonians 2:10 says "they did not receive the love of the truth..." The next verse says they live under delusion, they believe lies. We have to be careful, because we will believe in something. If we believe lies, we won't believe the truth. If we don't love truth, we won't seek truth. And if we believe less, we receive less. Love the truth. Seek it and receive it. So, you won't believe the lies/lesser truths.

Let your text be Love

It was said of Saint Francis, that although he spoke no words, his text was God's love.

Today, even if you don't speak, let your love be evident.

Words are not necessary to show love.

Controlled by God's Love for God's Purposes

"Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities bestowed by the Holy Spirit on Christians to build up the church and glorify God. Spiritual gifts are gifts of grace, and must be controlled by the greatest of all spiritual gifts - love." (p. 142, Live Deeply, Heitzig & Rose)

All our gifts should be subjected to the greatest gift of all, love.

Our goal is to build up the church, we do this by loving.

Build up your church today, love your neighbor, love your enemy.

Embroider LOVE into your life

This was a window at Tiffany's:

L is for Love

O is for One & Only

V is for Valentine

E is for Embrace

The beautiful blue of Tiffany's is contrasted by the gorgeous pink of Valentine's Day hue. It's stitched in silk...silk is delicate. It takes time to embroider...be patient.

Love Acts Responsibly

"There is exists in love a particular responsibility - the responsibility for a person who is drawn into the closest possible partnership in the and activity of another, and becomes in a sense the property of whoever benefits from the this gift of self. It follows that one also has a responsibility for one's own love: is it mature and complete enough to justify the enormous trust of another person, the hope that giving oneself will not mean losing one's own 'soul', but on the contrary enlarging one's existence...Responsibility for love clearly clearly comes down to responsibility for the person, originates in it and returns to it. This is what makes it such an immense responsibility. But its immensity can only be understood by one who has a complete awareness of the value of the person." (p. 130, Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

He concludes with "The greater the feeling of responsibility for the person the more true love there is." (p. 131)

When I started this blog, I did not know about this book. I happened upon it on Amazon. But there it was, my thoughts exactly: There needs to be responsibility for love.

I am feeling responsible for my Mom's health and happiness now, and this reminds me, it's because I love her.

The Divine Aspect of Love

When Karol Wojtyla explains 'the divine aspect of love,' he describes it "to desire 'unlimited' good for another person is really to desire God for that person...The great moral force of true love lies precisely in this desire for the happiness, for the true good, of another person....if true love awakens in me it bids me seek the true good where the object of my love is concerned." He concludes with "Love is indeed the highest of moral values." (p. 138, 139, Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

Later he says, "The longing for true happiness for another person, a sincere devotion to that person's good, puts the priceless imprint of altruism on love." (page 145)

As we would say today: It's a good thing.

Love is a Virtue

"Love in the full sense of the word is a virtue, not just an emotion, and still less a mere excitement of the senses. This virtue produced in the will and has at its disposal the resources of the will's spiritual potential...Love as a virtue is oriented by the will towards the value of the person." (p. 123, Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

It is virtuous to love. When I looked up virtue, I discovered it is 'moral excellence.' It is foundational for moral goodness. In other words, it's good for us and others. That's why it's a virtue, as recognized and valued by the world. It's the way we were created to be.

The Ethics of Love

"There is no possibility of psychological completeness in love unless ethical completeness is attained...In other words, love as experience should be subordinated to love as virtue, - so much so that without love as virtue there can be no fullness in the experience of love." (page 120,Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

There is an ethics of love. Love is a gift. Love is a virtue. It must be guarded. It must be protected. Experience and exercise with caution, and joy.

Sympathy and Love

Pope John Paul II teaches us that 'sympathy' in it's Greek origin is the combination of 'syn' [together with] and the verb 'pathein' [to experience]. He says, "Literally, then, sympathy means no more nor less than 'experiencing together.' (p. 88,89, Love & Responsibility)

If you experience life with others, you will "be with them" and that will bring comfort.

Sympathy is not a card, it's a life coming alongside another.

Loving involves your participation in the lives of others.

Love is Communion

Pope John Paul II in his earlier writings said, "The structure of love is that of an interpersonal communion." He said that after stating we need "we" in relationship, not two "I's". (page 88, Love & Responsibility)

I think his depiction of communion between two is very sensitive .

It's communion. It's sweet. It's sharing.

It's not corporate. It's not cooperating. Although it's both, it's higher than that.

Commune with those you love. That's the structure about which we should operate.

Love & Goodwill

"Goodwill is the same as selflessness in love: not 'I long for you as a good' but 'I long for your good', 'I long for that which is good for you'. Love as goodwill, is therefore love in a more unconditional sense...It is the purest form of love. Goodwill brings us as close to the 'pure essence' of love as it is possible to get." (p.83,84, Love & Responsibility, Karol Wojtyla)

How about some goodwill for your neighbor today!

Loving Develops Us

Karol Wojtyla in his book, Love & Responsibility, says, "Love is the fullest realization of the possibilities inherent in man. The potential inherent in the person is most fully actualized through love. The person finds in love the greatest possible fullness of being...Love is an activity, a deed which develops the existence of the person to its fullest." (page 82)

Loving develops us into truer, more alive human beings, more capable than we were before.

Love is Uniting

"Love is the unification of persons." (page 38, Karol Wojtyla, Love & Responsibility)

Love is what brings people together.

Love is what unites.

What do we need in this fractured world? We need love, not only to bring us together, but to heal our hearts.

Listen First

"The first duty of love is to listen." Paul Tillich

First listen.

The first action of love should be to listen to the other.

Don't let listening be second.

Using is not Loving

Karol Wojtyla, later known as Pope John Paul II, wrote a book entitled, Love & Responsibility. First of all the title hit me right away. After all, it's what I've been convicted of the responsibility that comes with love. But Harol had this conviction way back in 1960 when he wrote this book. In the first chapter, one of his headings reads: 'Love' as the opposite of 'using.' What a clarifier. If you need clarification, just ask are you loving or using. He goes on to say, "Man's capacity for love depends on his willingness consciously to seek a good together with others, and to subordinate himself to that good for the sake of others, or to others for the sake of that good."

He expounds by saying we must "free ourselves from the utilitarian, the 'consumer' attitude [Latin consumere = 'use') towards other persons."

(page 28, 29)

Love's Hallmark

"Sharing is the hallmark of love." (Gray Keller, http://intentionalsolutions.blogspot.com for 01.19.11)

Gray's words bring clarity to a big cloud that love is in the midst of.

Sometimes these concepts are so big they hang over us and we can't see through them.

Here's a simple test: Are you sharing? If so, you are loving.

Look for it.

Love is Strong

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -

myth is more potent that history -

dreams are more powerful than facts -

hope always triumphs over experience -

laughter is the cure for grief -

love is stronger than death."

Robert Fulghum

Live Simply ~ Love

Live Simply.

Love Generously.

Care Deeply.

Speak Kindly.

And leave the rest to God.

I read this on an email.

But sometimes the most simple sayings can hold such profound truth.

Think about and try...

Looking Out, Looking In

Someone extolled love as "pointing beyond yourself." I have also heard, "love points beyond itself."

Love looks out. We look in.

Self points to itself. Love spotlights the other.

Where are your eyes? Looking out or looking in?

If you're looking in, just look in enough to "straighten out the stuff" to be able to love others better.

If you do, you'll be better on the inside too!

Love Reorganizes

I read somewhere where love "reorganizes your life."

As I mentioned this, everyone thought it rang true.

Love will change your life. Love will reorganize your priorities.

Love will make everything different.

Let love reorganize what needs to change.

The Tchividjian Challenge

Tullian Tchividjian challenges us to each day ask, "Who here can I love? Who here needs my love right now?" (page 161, Surprised by Grace)

Good questions to ask ourselves each day in every situation.

See how your life changes with these simple questions.

I know it will change for good.

Comfort & Love

Isaiah 40:1, "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God.

Comfort those around you today.

Bring comfort to those you love.

Comfort is a wonderful thing. Make it a part of your life and those around you in your life.

God's City or man's? People or Gold?

Have you ever heard the quip:

"In God's City, the inhabitants love people and walk on gold;

while in man's city, the inhabitants love gold and walk on people."

It's a good thing to consider. Which do you love? Sometimes, we get confused.

Or sometimes, it's hard to tell.

God given gifts for us

Second Timothy 1:7 tells us God has given us...

~power

~love

~sound mind

Call on them today. Use them today, for His glory.

Proofs of Love

French poet Pierre Reverdy is quoted as saying, "There is no love. There are only proofs of love."

This makes sense as I saw the wind move the tree branches yesterday. I thought of how we don't see breath, that God gave. Then I thought of how the wind was a bigger breath. We don't see that either, only the effect of the wind. Then I can understand love is only visible in our acts of love. So, if people don't see love, they don't think we love them.

Then, show proofs of love today. It's essential to making your love be seen and felt in this world.

The Negatives Reveal Our Problems, Our Lack of Love

When I look at the negative characteristics that are not a part of love from I Corinthians 13, I find an interesting list:

Envy

Boasting

Pride

Rudeness

Self-Seeking

Easily Angered

Keeping a Record of Wrongs

Enjoying Evil

I find a list that would help us all weed out the problems in our relationships.

If you notice envy in your heart. It is wrong. Relationships do not thrive if envy is a part of it.

Boasting reveals pride and self centeredness. It does not build the other one up. It only makes you look bad.

Rudeness is not considering the other person. It only has eyes for me.

A person who is easily angered, is not someone people want to be around. We don't relax around those people. We are always on edge.

If you're tallying my wrongs, it will never end. I always make mistakes. Your list defeats me. I've lost already.

If you enjoy seeing bad things happen to other people. If you think evil thoughts, there is no love in your heart, and it will be very hard for other people to want to be in relationship with you.

Just some things to think about.

Rule #1

"The rule for all of us is perfectly simple: Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him."

C. S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

Relationships Need Love

"Relationships are not optional." That was the line in the Rose Publishing pamphlet on "Dare to Love." It went on to say, "Love is what makes relationships possible."

How true that we cannot escape relationships, even if you divorce. We are bound in life through relationships. The best way to relate to people is through love. All other ways distort, deflate, frustrate, and fatigue us. Remember if you are relating, which more than likely you are, to do it in the basis of love.

Love, So Confusing, So inexplicable

Love's definitions are so many and varied. But I continue to marvel at all the explanations of this inexplicable phenomenon. One defined it as "a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection." But then on to say others feel it is "not just a virtue, but the basis for all being." Others went on to describe it not as a feeling but as actions towards others (or even self) based on compassion. So, it's a feeling, it's an action. It's a virtue, it's more than a virtue...

It's more than any words can define or describe. What is love to you?

In Business & Life: LOVE

Warren Buffett's philosophy of business is loving your business. He thinks if you love your business you'll work harder for it. It is the number one criteria he looks for in looking for prospective businesses.

If it's that important in business, think how important it is in life!

Love Carefully

Isaiah 38:15 says in the end, "I shall walk carefully all my years."

Walk carefully today, and then commit to walk carefully tomorrow, so you can walk carefully all your years. When you are being careful, you are being thoughtful. Take care to love so your years will be filled with love.

Love Corrects

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love is Eternal

David Kessler concludes his Introduction to his book, Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms with: Life ends, but love is eternal." (page xxiii)

This is a book on death and dying. Isn't it great that it starts with life ends, but love goes on.

It's a good reminder to us while we live, and as we prepare to die.

The Witness of Love

Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, said: "Our strongest and most undeniable witness is how we love each other." (page 83, My Life is Not My Own).

What a great quote from one who made it is his life to witness to others about Christ, to say the strongest witness is in our love not necessarily our words.

Your witness is in your love. "Can I have a witness?"

Sincere Love, Sincere Hearts, Sincere Faith

When Paul was "commending himself and others" as ministers, he said it was "by sincere love" among other attributes (II Cor 6:6); and again he said by conducting ourselves with godly sincerity (II Cor 1:12)
When Paul was commending workers and masters he called for "sincerity of heart."
When Paul wrote young Timothy, he instructed him that the purposes of the commandments, which is love, come from sincere faith. (I Tim 1:5)
Peter said that obedience comes "through the Spirit in sincere love"...loving from a pure heart.
(I Peter 1:22)

We do well to call ourselves back to the sincerity that is involved in loving and living.

The Task of Loving More

I read a prayer that said, "take on the beloved task of becoming more loving."
What a prayer for us. Take on the beautiful task of becoming more loving.
What greater prayer could there be?
It went on to say, "as we love, we are also loved."
What a beautiful picture, that as we learn to love more, we will in turn be loved more.

Love & Friendship

"Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship - never." Charles Caleb Colton

If you love people as true friends, you will never stop loving them.
You may not be around them much any more, but you still love them.
You may not agree with them, but you still love them.

If you don't still love them, were they really your friend?

Looking At, Looking Out

"Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Are you just looking at your loved one, or looking out together to the future and its possibilities?
Looking at the other person is good, but looking out together is also good.
Make sure you are looking in the same direction, and traveling down the same road, together!

Love with Care

In watching an old movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, I noticed love even comes up with the gifts that the Wizard conveys. The old tinman wanted a heart. The wise old wizard said, " A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others."

The tinman's reply after being "granted" a heart was, "Now, I know I have a heart because it's breaking." Sometimes being granted what we want, hurts.

A heart capable of loving, is capable of breaking. Love with care.

Spending Love

In the movie classic, The Sound of Music, Maria has a discussion with the Reverend Mother about love. The Reverend Mother had noted Maria had "a great capacity to love." But what she counseled Maria on was how to live out that love. She said, "What you must find out is how God wants you to spend your love."

Have you ever thought about how you "spend" your love?

As you count your dollars, count your love today and spend it wisely.

The Wonder of Love

Isaac Watt's song, "Joy to the World" (1719), was written about Psalms 98. I especially liked the last verse that includes the phrase, "wonders of His love."

Some of Psalm 98 includes these glorious thoughts:

verse 1 - He has done marvelous things

verse 4 - Shout joyfully to the Lord

Break forth in song, rejoice, sing praises

verse 6 - Shout joyfully before the Lord

I like how Watt took these thoughts and concluded with the "the wonders of His love."

Consider how wonderful it is today.

Hold On

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." Audrey Hepburn

This is a good lesson to remember this time of year, when all we think about are wrapped gifts. But, we all know the best presents are in the presence of others.

Hold onto what matters. Hold onto what doesn't go out of style or date.

Hold onto each other...you never know when they won't there to hold.

Supernatural Reality

EPHIPHANY- 12 days after Christmas.
It is tradition to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, but actually they are the 12 days after Christmas. It marks the time of the visit of the 3 wise men to the Christ child. It commemorates when they brought their gifts to the King. Ephiphany is defined as "a manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality."

Look for the supernatural reality in your life today.
How can you offer gifts, as the wise men did?
Let love be the supernatural reality that you bring into daily life.

Glimpses of Eternity & Terminal Dignity

"The truth is that there is only terminal dignity - love." Helen Hayes

This sounds good, but I couldn't quite get it. I looked up "terminal" to make sure I understood it. The definitions read like this: forming the end or extremity of something; forming the end of a series; closing; concluding; pertaining to or lasting for a definite period...

I looked up dignity. It's definitions included: bearing, conduct, or speech indicative of self-respect or appreciation; nobility or elevation of character; worthiness; a sign or token of respect...

I then discovered the rest of the quote: "And the story of a love is not important - what is important is that one is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity."

I understand her quote better now. I agree love is the terminal, the end of something, if even a series of loving acts. I agree love gives dignity to the receiver and the giver. It's a new way of thinking of love, the only terminal dignity, the only glimpse of eternity.

Love & Knowledge

"Love takes up where knowledge leaves off." St. Thomas Aquinas

Lack knowledge? No worries. Pick up with love where knowledge drops off. You may not have the answer, but you will have love. Which is better, my friend: the correct answer or the sweetest love? I choose love.

I am Third

Have you heard the saying, "I am third"?

Now that it's the third, it's appropriate to remember.

God is first. Others are second. I am third.

Most of us put ourselves at number one.

That's when the trouble starts.

Life doesn't seem to work that way for long.

Someone interrupts our flow. Something interjects itself into our space.

Comprehending we don't control life, will help you cope with life.

Understanding things always does.

How can understanding this help you love others?

Second: Love Others

Second, love others. Remember that after you have put first things first. Love Others. God wanted it that way. If you get the first things first, the second thing will come easy. Love will flow from the source: God, not you or your efforts.

First: Love God

"God does command us to walk in love, first toward Him and then toward others." Creflo Dollar

It is a great reminder, that number one, it is a command. Secondly, that the love is first to be directed to Him, and thirdly, is to others. Don't get the order confused. Don't think it's a suggestion to help your life, but a command from a Holy God. Walk in love, first toward Him, and then toward others.

Today, being the First. Let's get first things first.